ISLAMABAD: Pursuant to the 27th Constitutional Amendment, key constitutional and statutory judicial bodies – the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), and the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Committee – have been reconstituted in accordance with the revised constitutional framework.
According to a statement issued by the PRO of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, “Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, being the next most senior judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan (SCP), has jointly been nominated as the member of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) by the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the Chief Justice of the Federal Constitutional Court of Pakistan (FCCP) under Clause 2 (d) of Article 209 of the Constitution.”
The SJC consists of the Chief Justices of the FCCP and SCP; one next most senior judge, each of the FCCP and the SCP; a judge of the FCCP or SCP jointly nominated by the Chief Justices of the FCCP and SCP, for a period of two years; and the two most senior Chief Justices of the High Courts. The SJC will be headed by the most senior judge between the CJP and the FCCP chief justice.
The inter-se seniority in this case will be determined by the dates of their appointment as the chief justices of the SC and FCCP. This means that CJP Yahya will continue to head the body.
Similarly, “Justice Aamer Farooq, the next most senior judge of the Federal Constitutional Court of Pakistan, has jointly been nominated as a member of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) by the Chief Justice of Pakistan and the Chief Justice of the FCCP under Clause 2 (iiia) of Article 175A of the Constitution.”
Following this, the JCP will now comprise CJP Yahya Afridi, FCCP Chief Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, the most senior judge of SC Justice Muneeb Akhtar, the most senior judge of FCCP Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi, next most senior judge of FCCP Justice Aamer Farooq, Attorney General of Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan, Law Minister Azam Nazir 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 statement also said that “The Chief Justice of Pakistan nominated Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, the next most senior Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, as a member of the Committee constituted under Section 2 of the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023.”
Under the Act 2023, the three-judge committee comprises the CJP and the two most senior judges of the Supreme Court. The Committee will comprise Justice Muneeb Akhtar and Justice Mandokhail, who has become the second-most senior judge following the resignation of Syed Mansoor Ali Shah.
Among the three statutory bodies, the SJC is the top forum for judicial accountability that probes allegations of misconduct against judges, the Practice and Procedure Committee forms benches and fixes cases, and the JCP is responsible for appointing judges to the superior judiciary.
The reconstituted bodies will continue to play a central role in matters of accountability, judicial appointments, and procedural governance under the amended constitutional scheme. Changes in their composition were required to synchronise them with the latest constitutional amendment.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2025
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