National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq has decided to write to parliamentary leaders to initiate the formation of a parliamentary committee for the appointment of the next Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP). It reported in media that the committee will comprise 8 members from the National Assembly and 4 from the Senate. The Chairman Senate will nominate the Senate members. Sources revealed that the parliamentary committee will request a panel of three senior judges from the Ministry of Law. The committee will then select the next CJP from this panel within three days. The development came after President Asif Ali Zardari on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, signed 26th constitutional amendment bill into law.

Following President Zardari’s signature on the bill, the gazette notification of constitutional amendment has been issued, which means the 26th amendment has been made part of the 1973’s constitution of Pakistan. The National Assembly and Senate earlier passed the bill with a two-thirds majority under which the term for the Chief Justice of Pakistan has been set at three years. A 12-member parliamentary committee will select the new Chief Justice from a panel of the three most senior judges. 26th constitutional amendment Under the constitutional amendment, the term for the Chief Justice of Pakistan has been set at three years. A 12-member parliamentary committee will nominate the new Chief Justice of Pakistan from a panel of the three most senior judges.

The committee, comprising eight members from the National Assembly and four from the Senate, will propose the name to the Prime Minister, who will then forward it to the President for final approval. Besides, a Judicial Commission of Pakistan, led by the Chief Justice and including three senior judges, two members each from the National Assembly and Senate, the Federal Minister for Law and Justice, the Attorney General, and a nominee of the Pakistan Bar Council, having not less than fifteen years of practice in the Supreme Court, will be responsible for appointments of the judges of the Supreme Court.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan