Pakistan limits Chief Justice's term to 3 years

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Monday enacted a law, capping the Chief Justice's tenure to three years and setting up a special commission to appoint the top judge from three senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, amid opposition from the jailed former prime minister Imran Khan's party.

President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday gave his assent to the Constitution (26th Amendment) Act, 2024, after it was passed by both Houses of Parliament - the Senate and the National Assembly.

With the 26th Constitution Amendment Bill becoming law, the government can now block Justice Masoor Ali Shah from succeeding the current Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, who is set to retire on October 25 after reaching superannuation, which is 65 years.

The original idea of extending the retirement age of judges from 65 to 68 was not part of the amendment.

On Sunday, the bill was greenlit by the Senate with a two-thirds majority. Then, during a session that began late on Sunday night and continued past 5 am on Monday, the National Assembly also passed the bill, which the opposition alleges is aimed at watering down the powers of the independent judiciary, with 225 members in the 336-member house supporting the proposed legislation.

According to a National Assembly secretariat notification, ‘The Constitution (26th Amendment) Act, 2024’ “received the assent of the President".

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and the Sunni-Ittehad Council (SIC) opposed the amendment in the National Assembly, but six independent members who held their seats with the support of the PTI supported the bill.

The government needed 224 votes to pass the amendment.

The Senate on Sunday night voted 65-4 to approve the amendment with the required two-thirds majority. The ruling coalition needed the support of 64 members in the upper house of the parliament.

The bill, comprising a set of constitutional amendments, including a special commission to appoint a chief justice out of three senior-most judges of the Supreme Court, was approved by the cabinet on Sunday with a consensus among the ruling coalition partners.

Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar who presented the bill in the Senate said the 'new-face' commission would consist of the Chief Justice, four senior-most Supreme Court judges, two senators and two national assembly members - one of each from the opposition.

He said the changes would help expedite the dispensation of justice by the apex court.

The amendment blocked the automatic rise of the senior-most Supreme Court judge to the post of chief justice after the incumbent CJP retired.

Speaker Ayaz Sadiq presided over the proceedings in the National Assembly.

According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has signed the advice for President Asif Ali Zardari to ratify the 26th constitutional amendment.

Following the bill's passage, Shehbaz said in the parliament: “Today’s amendment, the 26th, is not just an amendment, but an example of national solidarity and consensus. A new sun will rise, emanating across the nation.”

The opposition alleged the entire exercise was aimed at blocking Justice Mansoor Ali Shah's appointment from becoming the chief justice on the retirement of current CJP Qazi Faez Isa on October 25.

PTI leader Hammad Azhar termed the amendment “a death blow to the independence of the judiciary”, and explained how giving the power to appoint judges to the apex court and high courts to the government would politicise the judiciary.

Another PTI leader Salman Akram Raja called the moment the “bleakest in our parliament’s history”, terming it a handover of the control of the judiciary to the executive.

PTI leader Ali Zafar, the first to speak in the Senate on the bill, said his party's lawmakers were being forced to vote in favour.

He said his party senators were absent as they feared abduction.

"It is against the law and morality that coercion is being applied to get the amendment approved," Zafar said, urging the Senate chairman not to count the vote of any PTI senator.

Zafar came to the house to give his party's position despite his party saying in a statement that its political committee decided to boycott the voting process in both houses of Parliament.

Pakistan People's Party chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, who made elaborate efforts for the passage, said the government would move forward with the amendment whether the PTI voted in favour or not.

"We have waited for as long as we could, and today, under any circumstance, this work will be completed," Bilawal told the media.