Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Three key constitutional and statutory judicial bodies have been reconstituted under the revised framework introduced through the 27th Constitutional Amendment, the Supreme Court announced on Tuesday.
According to the press release issued by the top court, the reconstitution covers three major bodies — the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), and the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Committee — all updated in line with the amended constitutional structure.
For the Supreme Judicial Council, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, the next most senior judge of the Supreme Court, has been jointly nominated by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi and Chief Justice of the Federal Constitutional Court Aminuddin Khan under Clause 2 (d) of Article 209 of the Constitution of Pakistan.
Following Justice Mandokhail’s inclusion, the SJC will now comprise the CJP Afridi, FCC CJ Aminuddin, SC judge Justice Munib Akhtar, FCC judge Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Lahore High Court (LHC) CJ Aalia Neelum and Islamabad High Court (IHC) CJ Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar.
Moreover, the CJP has nominated Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail as a member of the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Committee, constituted under Section 2 of the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023.
Under the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure), Act 2023, the committee will now comprise the CJP Afridi, Justice Akhtar, and Justice Mandokhail.
For the Judicial Commission of Pakistan, Justice Aamer Farooq — the next most senior judge of the Federal Constitutional Court — has been jointly nominated under Clause 2 (iiia) of Article 175A of the Constitution by the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the Chief Justice of the Federal Constitutional Court.
The JCP will now comprise the CJP, FCC chief justice, Justice Akhtar, FCC’s Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Aamer Farooq, Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Usman Awan, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) representative Ahsan Bhoon, two members from the National Assembly, two members from the Senate and a woman or non-Muslim nominated by the National Assembly speaker.
“The reconstituted bodies will continue to play a central role in matters of accountability, judicial appointments, and procedural governance under the amended constitutional scheme,” the press release concluded.
The restructuring comes days after the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)-led ruling coalition passed the 27th Amendment, which brought changes to the judicial structure and military command.
A major structural change comes in the form of the FCC, which was established as a new judicial forum with equal representation from all provinces. The amendment empowered the FCC to exercise suo motu authority upon petitions.
The judicial overhaul, part of the latest amendments, not only paved the way for dissolving the Constitutional Benches but also, through the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure (Amendment) Bill 2025, transferred the authority to constitute case-hearing benches to a three-member committee headed by the chief justice.
The amendment assigns the president and prime minister key roles in judicial appointments, while reducing certain powers of the Supreme Court and shifting some of its authority to the newly established FCC.
Following the passage of the amendment, Supreme Court judges Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Athar Minallah resigned from their posts in separate letters to President Asif Ali Zardari.
The jurists had criticised the 27th Amendment, describing it as a “grave assault on the Constitution of Pakistan”. However, the federal government called the judges’ resignations “political speeches” and the latter’s allegations “unconstitutional”.
Two days later, LHC judge Shams Mehmood Mirza followed the jurists’ footsteps and quit from his position “in protest against the newly-enacted 27th Constitutional Amendment.”
