Lawyers sign public statement against Constitutional Package

Lawyers on Monday came together to sign a public statement condemning the controversial Constitutional Package and refusing to recognise a “federal constitutional court”.

The package is a set of constitutional amendments, one of which seeks to set the tenure of the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) at three years. Other salient features of the package include introducing changes to the Supreme Court, high courts, and the Supreme Judicial Council, and the power to transfer judges from one court to another.

The legislation was previously expected to be introduced in the National Assembly and the Senate today after the government failed to table it over the weekend as previously scheduled despite hectic efforts to garner the required support.

Speaking on the floor of the lower house, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said the proposed amendments had “not yet been presented before the federal cabinet as a draft nor in the CCLC (Cabinet Committee for Disposal of Legislative Cases)”.

As per procedure, a constitutional amendment first needs to be cleared by the federal cabinet.

Condemning the move, lawyers on Monday signed a joint statement, stating that the proposed package lacked the people’s mandate and undermined judicial independence.

“In view of the unprecedented proposed assault on the Constitution, the Supreme Court, and the High Courts in the form of a purported ‘judicial package’, we do not accept this violation of the Constitution and the independence of the judiciary – proposed by a parliament that lacks the people’s mandate,” the statement said.

It added that allowing the transfer of high court judges from one province to another was a “mala fide attempt to further subvert not only judicial independence but also provincial autonomy”.

It further said that the legal fraternity would not recognise Justice Qazi Faez Isa as the CJP after his term ends on October 25.

“In furtherance of the letter of the Islamabad High Court Judges dated 25 March 2024, we recognise Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah as Chief Justice of Pakistan as of 26 October 2024,” the lawyers said in the statement.

On September 9, CJP Isa issued a clarification regarding the possibility of an extension to his tenure.

He explained that when asked about it, he mentioned that several months ago, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar had visited his chambers and informed him that the government was considering making the position of the CJP a fixed three-year term.

The CJP said in the statement that he told the law minister if the proposal was enacted as an individual-specific piece of legislation, it would not be something he would accept.

It may not be a person-specific legislation, but it would give the executive some ingress in the process of appointment, posting, and transferring of the judges of the superior judiciary.

The lawyers also said in the statement that they would not accept a “federal constitutional court”.

“We recognise no so-called ‘Federal Constitutional Court’, shall not appear or assist before it, and shall stand against its subversion of the Constitution of Pakistan and against the curtailment of the High Court’s jurisdiction,” the lawyers added.

At the time of writing this report, more than 225 lawyers have signed the statement, including Jibran Nasir, Asad Rahim Khan, Zainab Janjua, Abdul Moiz Jaferii, Salaar Khan, Ahsan Pirzada, and Imaan Mazari.