Pakistan’s Ruling Party Seeks Legal Community’s Input on Constitutional Amendments

Pakistan’s ruling party, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), has shifted its focus to addressing concerns of the legal fraternity after failing to secure support from its former ally, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), for passing a constitutional amendment package in parliament.

Now, key representatives of the legal community will review the proposed amendments and share their recommendations. The committee will include the vice chairman and executive committee chairman of the Pakistan Bar Council; the president and general secretary of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) and the vice chairmen and executive committee chairmen of the provincial bar councils.

During a meeting between Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar and SCBA representatives, a decision was taken that a committee consisting of bar representatives will carefully think about the proposals for changes to the judicial system of Pakistan, including the formation of the Constitutional Court. The committee will submit its report in seven days. It was agreed that in the final draft of the amendment package, the proposal of the legal fraternity would be included.

The SCBA acknowledged that parliament has the authority to amend the Constitution and also said that such amendments should not violate the basic structure of the Constitution.

Notably, the ‘Constitutional Package’ had failed to make its way to the parliament even on Tuesday as the Pakistan government deferred presenting the proposed amendments, saying that it would bring the legislation before the house after a consensus had been achieved. Although the package was not presented to parliament, a draft of the proposed constitutional changes began circulating widely on social media and mainstream outlets, offering a glimpse into the government’s plans for the judiciary.

According to leaders from the PML-N, this draft was not intended to be the final version. The government plans to incorporate feedback from opposition parties before finalizing the document. The proposed constitutional package has sparked speculation about a possible extension of the Chief Justice of Pakistan’s tenure, who is set to retire in October this year and changes to the judicial procedure. The government has been tight-lipped on the proposed amendments to the Constitution but clarified that the package will not be person-specific and would give the authorities ingress in the judicial procedure.