The courtroom in a bus that hopefully won’t give Chris Grayling any big new ideas

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By Alex Aldridge on

A mobile courtroom in a bus has been launched in Pakistan in a bid to help clear the country’s huge backlog of cases.

Legal system reformers such as our justice secretary Chris Grayling — who today announced that he wants to stop barristers travelling significant distances for short hearings — will doubtless be looking on with interest…

The court, which deals with small civil cases, minor criminal cases and juvenile matters, is part of a £10 million project to strengthen Pakistan’s judicial system and state institutions.

Handling up to 30 cases a day, it will operate in the most remote areas of the country where there is strong support for the Taliban. It is staffed by a rotating team of eight specially trained judges and 18 lawyers, alongside a registrar and stenographer.

Somewhat scathingly, the court has been described by Agence France-Presse as “more reminiscent of a giant fast food van than an arm of the state”. Reuters, however, notes that the interior is “wood paneled”.

The plan is to introduce 11 more court-buses later this year with funding from the UN, as Pakistan grapples with its incredible 1.4 million pending cases.