Digitizing Due Process, The Constitutional Imperative of Biometric Justice in Pakistan A Study of Article 10-A, Article 37-D, and the Actualization of SDG 16
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: The integration of technology into judicial administration presents a fundamental paradox the pursuit of efficiency often collides with the preservation of procedural rights. This article examines this tension through Pakistan s recent mandate for biometric verification in its courts, analyzing whether digitization strengthens or undermines constitutional guarantees of justice. The central thesis posits that biometric verification, while effectively operationalizing Article 37-D’s constitutional mandate for inexpensive and expeditious justice, creates novel and largely unexamined tensions with the procedural fairness guarantees enshrined in Article 10-A’s due process clause. Employing a doctrinal and comparative constitutional framework, this study analyzes Pakistan s biometric reforms particularly the Punjab judicial model implemented in January 2026 through the dual lens of SDG 16.3 (access to justice) and SDG 16.6 (effective, accountable institutions). The key findings reveal the Punjab model as a double-edged sword on one edge, it enhances efficiency, curbs bogus litigation, and strengthens institutional transparency, thereby advancing SDG 16 targets on the other, it risks creating a digital divide that excludes vulnerable populations, raises unresolved data privacy concerns, and potentially transforms due process into mere digital formalism. The article concludes by advocating for the development of a constitutional biometric justice doctrine a framework of safeguards ensuring that technological imperatives serve, rather than subvert, fundamental rights. This research contributes to the emerging discourse on Fourth Branch governance and offers policy recommendations for aligning Pakistan s judicial digitization with its international commitments and constitutional identity.
Source: Law Research Journal
Language: English
Topic: Education, Law, and Society
Subfield: Law
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7219972602