As the government made moves toward the passage of the 27th Constitutional Amendment, former judges and top lawyers on Monday urged Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi to summon a full court meeting to discuss the proposed legislation.
The request came in a letter, dated November 9 and a copy of which is available with Dawn, that was penned by senior counsel Faisal Siddiqi. It was also signed and endorsed by former SC senior puisne judge retired Justice Mushir Alam, former Sindh High Court (SHC) judge retired Justice Nadeem Akhtar and 11 other top lawyers.
The letter said that the missive was being written “not in normal times but in times that present the greatest threat to the Supreme Court of Pakistan since its establishment in 1956”.
It termed the 27th Amendment Act as the “biggest and the most radical restructuring of the Federal Appellate Court structure since the enactment of the Government of India Act, 1935”.
“We say this without any fear of contradiction that no civilian or military government in Pakistan’s history has even tried, let alone succeeded, in relegating the Supreme Court of Pakistan as a subordinate court and permanently denude it of its constitutional jurisdiction, as is being done through the proposed Constitution (Twenty-Seventh Amendment) Act, 2025,” the lawyers and judges said in the letter.
“If your Lordship is in agreement with us that this proposed amendment act is the biggest and most radical restructuring of the Supreme Court of Pakistan since its inception, then we would most respectfully request, and fully expect your Lordship, to call a full court meeting to discuss this proposed Amendment Act and to give an appropriate response to the federal government in the form of inputs and suggestions regarding this proposed amendment act,” they added.
“We would respectfully not like to explain to your Lordship that the Supreme Court has every right and power to give its input to the federal government on any proposed amendment act,” the legal experts said, adding that the legislation proposes “radical restructuring” of SC’s basic essence, structure and its constitutional obligation to administer justice for all.
The letter reiterated the call for an immediate full court meeting, noting that the Amendment was expected to be passed by November 11 (today) “or any day thereafter”.
The lawyers and judges went on to add that in case this request was declined on the “pretext of neutrality or noninterference with legislation (which we consider to be reasons without any substance), then we would at least expect you to accept and admit in a written response to us that you are now reconciled to be the last chief justice of Pakistan and now reconciled to accept the demise of the Supreme Court of Pakistan as the highest court in Pakistan”.
“At least by this admission by you, we would no longer have any kind of expectation from your Lordship to be a defender of the Supreme Court,” they said.
The letter requested that, as this was a matter of “utmost public importance”, a copy of the missive be released to the media.
Besides Siddiqui and retired judges Alam and Akhtar, the letter was also endorsed by former attorney generals for Pakistan (AGP) Muneer A. Malik, Anwar Mansoor Khan; ex-presidents of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) Abid S. Zuberi, Ali Ahmad Kurd, Muhammad Akram Sheikh, and Kanrani B. Amanullah; and SC advocates Khwaja Ahmad Hosain, Salahuddin Ahmed and Shabnam Nawaz Awan.
The proposed judicial restructuring
Shortly after its approval by the federal cabinet, the Constitution (Twenty-Seventh Amendment) Act, 2025 was tabled in the Senate on Saturday amid the opposition’s outcry over the pace and scope of the proposed changes. The Senate has convened for the third consecutive day today and is likely to greenlight the legislation, after which it will land in the National Assembly.
Among the various changes proposed in the Amendment, many pertain to the judiciary, with the most notable being the formation of a Federal Constitutional Court (FCC). The FCC will deal with constitutional matters and its decisions would be binding on all courts, including the Supreme Court itself, which has led to many experts believing that the tweaks would, in effect, dethrone the SC as the country’s highest judicial forum.
At the heart of the amendment is the creation of a new apex court, the FCC, building upon the constitutional benches formed under the 26th Amendment, which remains challenged before the SC.
Inserted into the Constitution as Chapter 1A, the FCC would have its own chief justice — serving a fixed three-year term — and judges, who may be appointed from the SC, senior high court judges with at least seven years of experience, or very senior advocates with over two decades in practice.
FCC judges would retire at the age of 68. The retirement age for SC judges currently is 65 as per Article 179 of the Constitution.
The amendment further stipulates that the president may transfer a high court judge from one high court to another on the recommendation of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP). A judge of a high court who does not accept a transfer under this Article shall be deemed to have retired from his office.
The FCC would assume some of the SC’s most significant powers. Under the new Article 189, the SC would be downgraded to the apex court for civil and criminal appeals only, while FCC decisions would be binding on all courts, including the SC itself.
The FCC would also hold exclusive jurisdiction over disputes between the Federation and provinces, or among provinces, and could, on its own motion, take up any case involving a “substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution“.
Moreover, the FCC would take over the SC’s authority on cases concerning the enforcement of fundamental rights, appeals from high courts on constitutional matters, writ petitions under Article 199 (except family and rent cases), and even the president’s power to seek advisory opinions from the apex court.
from Dawn - Home https://ift.tt/R3i0EX2
via IFTTT
0 Comments