ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Yahya Khan Afridi on Saturday said public confidence in the judiciary must be earned through integrity, competence, fairness and compassion, stressing the need to strengthen institutions that enable judges to work independently and confidently. “Public confidence in the judiciary is neither inherited nor proclaimed. It is earned,” Justice Afridi said while addressing a ceremony in Islamabad. He said the district judiciary was the backbone of the justice system and, for most citizens, represented their first contact with a state institution. “If we aspire to strengthen the public confidence in the judiciary, we must continue to strengthen the institutions within which our district judiciary serves,” he said.