Who's holding the bag? Accountability in the criminal justice system

Required) Lack of accountability and transparency are major impediments in efforts to minimize delays, ensure due process of law and reduce backlogged cases in the criminal justice system of Pakistan. Existing oversight mechanisms to track cases through physical files and archives are prone to tampering and damage. The problem is particularly acute since there is little or no coordination between police, prosecution, and courts. There is no meaningful consolidation of crime and prosecution analytics and a total absence of transparency in the process. The current system makes it difficult to see who’s holding the proverbial bag. This paper presents results from a first of its-kind survey of our criminal justice system in Pakistan. We highlight the importance and policy implications of our work by presenting empirical data from 750 prosecution vouchers using the results to motivate a case-flow design that integrates and maps the casemanagement practices of all three institutions involved.