Pakistan’s Senate proposed a bill on an amendment to the constitution that seeks to limit the Judicial Commission of Pakistan’s (JCP) authority in the selection of judges in the country’s superior courts.
Senators have directed the Standing Committee on Law and Justice to report back within 15 days on a bill introduced by former upper house chairman Farooq Naek.
Senator Naek said to the House that the JCP now consists of the Chief Justice of Pakistan, four Supreme Court judges, a retired Supreme Court judge, the law minister, the Attorney General, and a senior lawyer.
The bill proposes to remove one of the four supreme court judges and the retiring judge from the panel, making it a seven-member body.
Similar changes have been suggested for the High Court Judge Appointment Commission, which would lower its size from 13 to 11.
As stated by Mr Naek, the law proposes that an initiating committee be formed within 60 days of a vacancy occurring in a high court to make nominations for candidates. The advocate general and a member of the bar council would round up the committee, which would be chaired by the chief justice of the relevant high court.
According to the proposed legislation, a chief justice of the high court would be appointed in a manner similar to that of the Supreme Court.
In expressing his regret that the parliamentary committee on the appointment of judges had devolved into little more than a rubber stamp in the absence of clearly defined powers, he explained that the proposed amendment would give the committee the power to confirm a nominee by a majority of its total membership within 30 working days.
If three-quarters of the eight-member parliamentary panel rejected a nominee, then it would be allowed to do so.
According to Mr. Naek, the decision of the parliamentary committee cannot be challenged in any court for any reason at all.
He argued that legislation was the responsibility of parliament, while the court and bureaucracy were in charge of enforcing and interpreting it.
“We need judges who are both independent and efficient,” he said. Mr. Naek also advocated the formation of a committee of retired judges from the Supreme Court to monitor the performance of high court judges.
