ISLAMABAD: The Judicial Com­mission of Pakistan (JCP) on Sat­urday approved the rules for regulating mechanisms for the assessment and evaluation of judges for appointments to the superior judiciary.

The Judicial Commission of Pak­istan (Appointment of Judges) Rules, 2024, were approved in two back-to-back sessions, presided over by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi, the commission’s chairman.

The commission — reconstituted under the 26th Constitutional Amendment — now included members of parliament and judges.

After the rules were approved, the commission members were asked to again submit nominations for appointments as additional judges of different high courts in accordance with the two approved proformas developed by the rules-making sub-committee on Dec 16.

Commission bound to give reasons in case senior-most judges are not promoted

The members would make their submissions by Jan 3, 2025, after which a consolidated list would be formed to ascertain the credentials of the nominees, a source privy to the development told Dawn.

The source, however, explained that the names already making rou­nds earlier can be added again to the list for appointment as additional judges.

The first meeting on Saturday began at 11am and lasted for around eight hours. The session thoroughly reviewed draft rules and considered feedback on them. After extensive deliberations, the proposed rules were approved with certain amendments.

Tenure extended till July

The second meeting, which discussed the proposed rules clause by clause, extended the tenure of the seven-judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court for another six months.

The tenure, set to expire in January, has been extended till July.

During Saturday’s meeting, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail suggested the constitutional bench should include all SC judges.

However, the decision to retain the constitutional bench’s present composition was made by a majority of seven to six.

Senator Ali Zafar of PTI said the idea of including all judges in the constitutional bench should be considered after a full court determines the legality of the 26th amendment.

The meeting also decided to delete Rule 3 of the proposed rules, which stated: “[T]he Leader of the House, the Leader of the Opposition and the Speaker of the National Assembly, when making nominations are expected to ensure that members nominated to the [Judicial] Commission have legal background”.

The commission also decided to delete Rule 13(4), which suggested that the nominees attend the commission’s meeting to discuss their elevation.

Voting by show of hands

Similarly, the requirement of Rule 13(6), which suggested that voting on the nominations would be conducted by secret ballot, was removed. The meeting allowed voting by show of hands.

The commission also decided that the input from intelligence agencies regarding the credentials of a nominee should be supported by evidence.

It will be the commission’s discretion to evaluate the evidence.

Reason for bypassing seniors

The approved rules also suggested that if a senior judge of the high court is bypassed for appointment as chief justice or a district court judge is superseded for elevation to the high court, the commission will give cogent reasons for its decision.

The meetings were attended by justices Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, Munib Akhtar, Aminud Din Khan and Jamal Khan Mandokhail of the Supreme Court; the chief justices and senior judges of all five high courts; Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar; Attorney General Mansoor Usman Awan; and parliamentarians.

Published in Dawn, December 22nd, 2024