Judicial reforms in Pakistan see next top judge sidelined |

The next justice to head Pakistan's Supreme Court was ousted this week by the military-backed government, just after rushing through judicial reforms.

Just before dawn on Monday, Parliament narrowly passed constitutional amendments granting lawmakers the power to select top judges.

The government said the amendments were aimed at bringing a wayward justice system to heel.

Critics see it as a power grab driven by the military establishment's desire to curb the political influence of the Supreme Court, which recently issued a series of rulings in favor of jailed opposition leader Imran Khan.

“In recent years, the justice system has been a thorn in the side of the existing government, particularly the army, which supports the current government,” lawyer Salahuddin Ahmed told AFP.

“Eventually, they came up with this plan to subjugate the judiciary through a constitutional amendment,” he added.

Details of the amendments were kept secret from the press and public until they were read out in Parliament during an evening session.

In addition to choosing the chief justice, the government will now benefit from increased representation on the judicial commission responsible for appointing, evaluating and removing the highest judges.

New benches comprising senior judges from across the country will weigh exclusively on constitutional issues, which are at the heart of the legal fight between the government and Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.

Santiago Canton, president of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), described it as “alarming that a constitutional amendment of great importance and public interest was adopted in such a secret manner and in less than 24 hours “.

– Judicial rat race

The overhaul was carried out in the run-up to the retirement of Supreme Court Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa on Friday, and his planned replacement was scrapped by the government in favor of another judge.

Under previous laws, he would have been automatically replaced by Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, who is generally considered politically impartial.

But Shah sealed his fate in July when he overturned the Election Commission and granted a handful of unelected seats reserved for women and religious minorities to Khan's PTI, which won the most seats in February's elections.

The verdict would have made Khan's party the largest party in Parliament – a fatal blow to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's fragile coalition government.

With Shah sidelined and the third on the list, Yahya Afridi, elevated to the top spot, analysts say the allocation of unelected seats may be reconsidered by the new constitutional judiciary.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said the reforms gave the government “a dangerous advantage.”

“The manner in which constitutional seats are to be established, as well as their composition, raises serious concerns that, in practice, the credibility of these seats could be compromised by direct political influence,” he said in a press release.

Constitutional lawyer Salahuddin Ahmed has predicted a future “rat race among senior judges” who will tilt their decisions in favor of the government in order to be promoted to top positions.

– Activism and self-improvement –

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said the amendments were adopted “without broad consultation and debate”, which would “seriously undermine the independence of the judiciary”.

Pakistan's Foreign Ministry on Thursday rejected the statement, calling it “disinformation and inaccurate understanding.”

Throughout Pakistan's history, the Supreme Court has had considerable influence over the political direction of the country, deciding to impeach, disqualify or even suspend prime ministers, as in the case of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1979 .

The Supreme Court's perceived political muscle has recently unnerved members of the establishment.

In a fiery speech in Parliament, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, grandson of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and son of assassinated former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, accused Pakistani judges of becoming accustomed to “interfering in matters of politics, foreign policy and economics.

Legal expert and Supreme Court lawyer Osama Malik said the judiciary's activism has “provided the rationale for an amendment that will not only undermine the independence of the judiciary but also threaten freedoms civilians”.

“Although the government presents this argument as a watered-down explanation, its underlying objective is to bring the judiciary under its control,” he told AFP.

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