Protest and press conference they Protest and Strike call on the Elevation of Junior Judges
July 2022
Protest and Strike call on the Elevation of Junior Judges to supreme court.
This was organized by the Mubashir Bhutta Human Rights ,The law society of Pakistan and TNAP (Tehreek-e nafaze Aen Pakistan ) In the Protest and press conference they Protest and Strike call on the Elevation of Junior Judges to supreme court is illegal and unlawful act. We have strong opposition against this kind of elevations we have strongly opposed the elevation of junior judges of the high courts to the Supreme Court and have pressed the government to enact laws to regulate the discretionary powers vested in the chief justice to constitute benches and fix cases.
The resolution was adopted in a joint meeting of the representatives of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan (SCBAP), high court bar associations of all the provinces, Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and members of bar councils to the Judicial Commission of Pakistan held here at the Supreme Court building on Wednesday.
We considered the situation arising out of the controversies linked to the judiciary’s independence with regard to the functioning of courts as well as the appointment of judges in the superior courts.
They further expressed that legal fraternity did not harbor any personal agenda and that it practiced complete impartiality, emphasizing that the lawyers wanted strict adherence to the rule of law and principle of seniority. The nominations for the appointment of junior judges to the apex court were in violation of the seniority principle and therefore, it should be disapproved by the house. Moreover, it reiterated its long-standing demand that the JCP immediately amend its rules to allow nominations for judicial appointments to be initiated by any member of the commission rather than the chief justice alone. It stressed the need to frame fair, transparent and objective criteria and procedures to gauge the suitability of prospective appointees.
It was demanded that amendments in Article 175-A and Article 209 of the Constitution should be made in order to unify the forum for appointment and removal of judges and to make it more inclusive and comprising equal representation of all the stakeholders judges, bar, executive and the parliament).Moreover, we demanded that Article 184 (3) of the Constitution be amended in order to provide one right of appeal. Furthermore, we and the bar associations further demanded that the federal government immediately frame legislation in terms of Articles 175(2) and 191 of the Constitution regulating the manner of exercise of jurisdiction of the Supreme Court.The legislation, in particular, should be aimed at ending the sole discretion of the CJP to constitute benches, fix cases and initiate suo motu proceedings and vest the same in a committee comprising the five senior-most judges of the court.