Abuse of Legal System

Abuse of Legal System

An endless chain of 'Appeals', 'Reviews', 'Revisions' and Writs are used in the courts to delay the final outcome. These tactics are used to buy time and cause heavy litigation expenses, mental pain and suffering and at times total ruin of a family.

Vexatious Litigation

Many Citizens’ in these nations, especially the poor and middleclass, often get trapped in vexatious criminal and civil cases and spend their entire earnings, savings and eventually sell their Assets for legal defense - sinking their entire family into deep poverty with little hope for recovery. Assets can be tied up in court cases for decades with malicious law suits, claims and unwarranted 'stay orders'.

Vexatious Litigation

Many Citizens’ in Pakistan, poor and middleclass, often get trapped in vexatious criminal and civil cases and spend their entire earnings, savings and eventually sell their Assets for legal defense - sinking their entire family into deep poverty with little hope for recovery. Assets can be tied up in court cases for decades with malicious law suits, claims and unwarranted 'stay orders'.

Delays and Adjournments

The delays in court proceedings can go on for years and decades. There is no accountability or mechanism to expose and call out corrupt and unethical lawyers and judges who deliberately cause delay. Adjournments and delays using nefarious tactics can keep the case proceedings in courts for decades. Lawyers either prolong the cases for the sake of their own interest to keep legal fee flowing to them, or they are easily compromised, enticed and influenced by the corrupt and powerful.

Malicious ‘deal-making’ in litigation

It is not uncommon to find the abhorring practice of 'buying and selling' of cases and making underhanded deals between opposing lawyers in the same case. These deals encompass seeking unwarranted delays and adjournments meant to ruin the victim financially, physically and mentally so that they either abandon their legitimate claim or settle for much less. There are numerous horror stories of cases on record where orchestrated delays caused cases to go on for a lifetime - that is the victim passed away waiting for the outcome. Moreover, the judicial officers/staff (readers in court rooms) collude with lawyers and judges to stretch cases for years - and almost in all cases there is bribe money, kickbacks or favors involved.

Increasing Volume of cases

A problem with unqualified and poor-quality lawyers is that they take on a huge load of cases at a lower fee structure. The client has no way to check and assess the credentials of a lawyer so they don't know who they are dealing with and what they are getting into. Because these lawyers can't handle the work load, they seek adjournments and collect small amounts of fee from the client. They also often time don't track court hearing dates and are unprepared for next proceedings. This horrendous cycle keeps going on for months and even years. This is not only unfair to the client since they may lose a 'winning case' but also to the entire legal fraternity as it creates a 'price war' just for winning clients.