Amended CoC for judges approved: SJC decides to proceed with three complaints

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), by majority vote, decided to proceed with three complaints, while unanimously agreeing to defer one complaint.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Yahya Afridi chaired the five-member Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) meeting held on Saturday at the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s building. It was virtually attended by two senior-most judges of the apex court – Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Munib Akhtar- via video-link, while the other two members – Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court Aalia Neelum and Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar attended the meeting in-person.

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The Council examined 67 complaints under Article 209 of the Constitution, and unanimously decided 65 complaints to be filed. It also decided one complaint to be deferred, while three complaints were to be proceeded further.

At a later stage, the Council was re-constituted as per Article 209 (3) (b) of the Constitution, with the inclusion of Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court S M Attique Shah, as the CJ IHC showed his inability to attend the meeting in respect of certain matters on the agenda.

The re-constituted Council examined seven complaints under Article 209 of the Constitution filed by different individuals. Five complaints were unanimously decided to be filed, while two complaints were decided to be processed further by majority decision.

After the decision on the present 74 complaints, the total pending cases requiring initial consideration are 87, and the SJC has attended to 155 since October 2024. The CJP, who is also the chairman of the SJC, pursuant to the Council’s decision, taken on July 12, 2025, proposed some amendments in the Code of Conduct (CoC) for Judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts.

The proposed amendments were thoroughly deliberated upon and, with some amendments, approved by majority decision of the Council, were directed to be notified in the official gazette, circulated to all Judges of the superior courts, and posted on the website of the Supreme Court.

As per the code of conduct, a judge should not engage in any public controversy, whether by way of speech, writing, debate, or comment at any forum, and least of all on political questions, even if such questions involve a question of law.

The judge shall not have any interaction with the media, especially in relation to issues which may give rise to public debate or adversely affect institutional collegiality and discipline. Where; however, an allegation is made public against a judge, he may place the matter in writing before a Committee comprising the Chief Justice of Pakistan and four senior judges of the Supreme Court through its Registrar for an appropriate institutional response.

He shall not cause any judicial or administrative matter to be discussed publicly, nor shall he make public any communication relating to his personal or official matters. Article VI of the CoC says, “A judge should endeavour to avoid, as far as possible, being involved in litigation either on his own behalf or on behalf of others.” To employ the influence of his position to gain undue advantage, whether immediate or future is a grave fault.

Article X says, “In (his) judicial work, a judge shall take all steps to decide cases within the shortest time, controlling effectively efforts made to prevent early disposal of cases and make every endeavour to minimize the suffering of litigants by deciding cases expeditiously through proper written judgments. A judge who is unmindful or indifferent towards this aspect of his duty is not faithful to his work, which is a grave fault.

According to Article XI: “No Judge of the superior judiciary shall render support in any manner whatsoever, including taking or administering oath in violation of the oath of office prescribed in the Third Schedule of the Constitution, to any authority that acquires power otherwise than through the modes envisaged by the Constitution.”

Article-XII says, “The Judges of the superior Courts would abstain from presiding/ attending any social, cultural, political, and diplomatic functions.”

Article-XIII Says, “Soliciting invitation by the Judges to attend conferences/ meetings from foreign/ international agencies would be considered misconduct, and if such an invitation is received by a Judge in his personal name, he would intimate the inviter to route such invitation through the concerned Chief Justice.” In case of influence, internal or external, the judge shall immediately inform, in writing, the Chief Justice of the relevant High Court, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, and four senior-most Judges of the Supreme Court through respective Registrars. The Chief Justice of the High Court shall place the matter before a Committee comprising three Judges within two days of the report by the Judge. The decision by the Committee on the report shall be made within a fortnight. In case it is referred for judicial decision, the same should be decided as early as possible by adhering to the principles of fair trial and due process.

If the Chief Justice or the Committee in the case of the High Court, as the case may be, fails to respond within the stipulated timeframe, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, along with four Senior Judges of the Supreme Court, shall take up the matter.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025