ISLAMABAD: A historic constitutional amendment bill that seeks to give the legislative committee a “meaningful” role in the selection of judges for the higher courts and to limit the authority of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) in this regard arrived in the Senate on Monday.
The Senate chairman submitted the private member’s bill, introduced by former upper house chairman and ex-law minister Farooq Naek, to the Standing Committee on Law and Justice with instructions to deliver its report within 15 days.
Sen. Naek told the parliament that the JCP for the appointment of Supreme Court judges now consists of the Chief Justice of Pakistan, four SC judges, a senior SC judge, the law minister, the Attorney General, and a senior advocate while outlining the main points of the bill.
Similar to this, it has also been suggested that the high court judges’ appointment commission be reorganised to lower its overall membership from 13 to 11.
Mr. Naek stated that he did not wish to address claims of favouritism in the selection of judges, but he did point out that the Constitution was silent on the selection of attorneys as judges.
According to Mr. Naek, the measure calls for an initiating committee to suggest names after 60 days after a high court vacancy. The proposed committee, which would consist of the next two senior-most judges, the advocate general, and a member of the bar council, should be under the direction of the chief justice of the relevant high court.
