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Part VII: The Judicature

Chapter 1: The Courts.

175 Establishment and Jurisdiction of Courts.
(1) There shall be a Supreme Court of Pakistan, a High Court for each Province  407[ and a High Court for the Islamabad Capital Territory ] 407and such other courts as may be established by law.
 408[Explanation.- Unless the context otherwise requires, the words "High Court" wherever occurring in the Constitution shall include "Islamabad High Court.] 408
 
(2) No court shall have any jurisdiction save as is or may be conferred on it by the Constitution or by or under any law.
 
(3) The Judiciary shall be separated progressively from the Executive within  410[fourteen] 410 years from the commencing day.
 
 411[Provided that the provisions of this Article shall have no application to the trial of persons under any ofthe Acts mentioned at Serial No.6 and 7 of sub-part III of Part I of the First Schedule, who claim, or are known to belong to any terrorist group or organization misusing the name of religion or a sect.
Explanation.- In this proviso, the expression "sect" means a sect of religion and does not include any reigious or political party regulated under the Political Parties Order, 2002.
] 411
 412[] 412
 
 414[
175A. Appointment of Judges to the Supreme Court, High Courts and the Federal Shariat Court.-
(1) There shall be a Judicial Commission of Pakistan, hereinafter in this Article referred to as the Commission, for appointment of Judges of the Supreme Court, High Courts and the Federal Shariat Court,  415[and for performance evaluation of Judges of the High Courts] 415as hereinafter provided.
 
 416[
(2) For appointment of Judges of the Supreme Court, the Commission shall consist of-
(i) Chairperson
Chief Justice of Pakistan;
(ii) Member
Presiding Judge;
(iii) Members
three most senior Judges of the Supreme Court;
(iv) Member
Federal Minister for Law and Justice;
(v) Member
Attorney-General for Pakistan;
(vi) Member
an advocate having not less than fifteen years of practice in the Supreme Court to be nominated by the Pakistan Bar Council for a term of two years;
(vii) Members
two members from the Senate and two members from the National Assembly of whom two shall be from the Treasury Benches, one from each House, and two from the Opposition Benches, from each House. The nomination from the Treasury Benches shall be made by the Leader of the House and from the Opposition Benches by the Leader of the Opposition:
Provided that during the time when the National Assembly stands dissolved, the remaining two members, for the purpose of this paragraph, shall be nominated from the Senate in the manner as aforesaid, for such period;
(viii) Member
a woman or non-Muslim, other than a member of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament), who is qualified to be a member of the Senate as a technocrat, to be nominated by the Speaker of the National Assembly for a term of two years.
Explanation.- If the Presiding Judge is the Chief Justice of Pakistan or is from amongst the Judges in paragraph (iii) of clause (2), the Judge who is next in seniority below the Judges referred in paragraph (iii) of clause (2) shall become member of the Commission.
 
] 416 419[
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in clause (1), or clause (2), the Chief Justice of Pakistan shall be nominated by the Special Parliamentary Committee, in this Article referred to as the Committee, from amongst the three most senior Judges of the Supreme Court. The Committee shall send the name of the nominee to the Prime Minister who shall forward the same to the President for appointment:
Provided that where the nominee under this clause declines a Judge from the remaining Judges amongst the three most senior Judges shall be considered and nominated:
Provided further that where the nominee under first proviso also declines the next most senior Judge if he is not from amongst the three most senior Judges shall he considered and nominated by the Committee and so on till the nominee under this clause is appointment as the Chief Justice of Pakistan.
 
] 419 420[
(3A) The Committee shall consist of the following twelve members, namely:-
(i) eight members from the National Assembly;
(ii) and four members from the Senate:
Provided that when the National Assembly stands dissolved, the total membership of the Committee shall consist of the members from the Senate only mentioned in paragraph (ii) and the provisions of this Article shall, mutatis mutandis, apply.
 
(3B) The Parliamentary Parties shall have proportional representation on the Committee, based on their strength in Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament), to be nominated by their respective Parliamenatry Leaders. The Chairman and the Speaker of the National Assembly, as the case may be, shall notify members of the Committee.
 
(3C) The Committee, by majority of not less than two-thirds of its total membership, within fourteen days prior to the retirement of the Chief Justice of Pakistan shall send the nomination as provided in clause (3):
Provided that the first nomination under clause (3), after commencement of the Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2024 (XXVI of 2024), shall be sent within three days prior to the retirement of the Chief Justice of Pakistan.
 
(3D) No action or decision taken by the Commission or the Committee shall be invalid or called in question only on the ground of existence of a vacancy therein or of the absence of any member from any meeting thereof.
 
(3E) The meetings of the Committee shall be held in camera and the record of its proceedings shall be maintained.
 
(3F) The provisions of Article 68 shall not apply to the proceedings of the Committee.
 
(3G) The Committee may make rules for regulating its procedure.
 
] 420 421[
(4) The Commission may make rules regulating its procedure including the procedure and criteria for assessment, evaluation and fitness for appointment of Judges.
 
] 421
(5) For appointment of Judges of a High Court, the Commission in clause (2) shall also include the following, namely:-
(i) Member
Chief Justice of the High Court to which the appointment is being made;
(ii) Member
 422[Head of Constitutional Benches of that High Court] 422;
(iii) Member
Provincial Minister for Law; and
 423[
(iv) Member
an advocate having not less than fifteen years practice in the High Court to be nominated by the concerned Bar Council for a term of two years 424[.] 424
] 423
 425[Explanation.- If Head of Constitutional Benches of a High Court is the Chief Justice of that High Court, the Judge who is next in seniority shall become member of the Commission:] 425
 426[Provided futher that if for any reason the Chief Justice of a High Court is not available, he shall be substituted by a former Chief Justice or former Judge of that Court, to be nominated by the  428[Commission] 428 429[.] 429] 426
 
(6) For appointment of Judges of the Islamabad High Court, the Commission in clause (2) shall also include the following, namely:-
(i) Member
Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court;  431[] 431
(ii) Member
 432[Head of Constitutional Benches of that High Court] 432 433[;] 433
 434[
(iii) Member
an advocate having not less than fifteen years of practice in the High Court to be nominated by the Islamabad Bar Council for a term of two years; and
(iv) Member
a Federal Minister nominated by the Prime Minister:
] 434
Provided that for initial appointment of the  435[Chief Justice and the] 435 Judges of the Islamabad High Court, the Chief Justices of the four Provincial High Courts shall also be members of the Commission:
Provided further that subject to the foregoing proviso, in case of appointment of Chief Justice of Islamabad High Court, the  436[Explanation and] 436provisos to clause (5) shall, mutatis mutandis, apply.
 
(7) For appointment of Judges of the Federal Shariat Court, the Commission in clause (2) shall also invlude the Chief Justice of the Federal Shariat Court and the most senior Judge of that Court as its members:
Provided that for appointment of Chief Justice of Federal Shariat Court, the provisos to clause (5) shall, mutatis mutandis, apply.
 
 437[
(8) The Commission, by majority of its total membership, shall nominate one person for each vacancy of a Judge in the Supreme Court, a High Court or the Federal Shariat Court, as the case may be, to the Prime Minister who shall forward the same to the President for appointment.
 
] 437 438[] 438
(11) Secretary,  441[National Assembly] 441 shall act as the Secretary of the Committee.
 
 442[] 442 448[
(18) The Commission in clause (2) shall conduct an annual performance evaluation of Judges of the High Courts.
 
(19) If the performance of a Judge of a High Court is found by the Commission to be inefficient, it shall grant him such period for improvement, as it deems appropriate. If, upon completion of the period so granted, the performance of such Judge is again found to be unsatisfactory, the Commission shall send its report to the Supreme Judicial Council.
 
(20) The Commission may make separate rules for setting up effective standards for performance evaluation for the purpose of clauses (18) and (19).
 
(21) For the purposes of this Article and subject to the rules made by the Commission, there shall be a secretariat of the Commission to be headed by a secretary and shall include such other officers and staff, as may be necessary.
 
(22) One-third of the members of the Commission may requisition a meeting of the Commission by sending a written request to the Chairperson who shall convene the meeting of the Commission not later than fifteen days from the receipt of such requisition. If the Chairperson fails to convene a meeting within the aforesaid period, the secretary shall convene the meeting within seven days of the expiry of the aforesaid period.
 
(23) For each anticipated or actual vacancy of a Judge in the Supreme Court, the Chief Justice of Federal Shariat Court, the Chief Justice of a High Court, a Judge in Federal Shariat Court or a Judge in a High Court, any member of the Commission may give nominations in the Commission for appointment against such vacancy.
 
] 448
 
] 414

Notes

407   Inserted by Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Act, 2010, Section 66 (with effect from April 19, 2010).
408   Substituted by Constitution (Ninetenth Amendment) Act, 2010, Section 3 (with effect from January 1, 2011) for :
 409[ Explanation:- The words "High Court" wherever occurring in the Constitution shall include the High Court for the Islamabad Capital Territory. ] 409
409   Inserted by Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Act, 2010, Section 66 (with effect from April 19, 2010).
410   Substituted by Revival of Constitution of 1973 Order, 1985 (President's Order No. 14 of 1985), Art 2, Sch. item 1 (with effect from March 2, 1985) for "five".
411   Inserted by Constitution (Twenty-third Amendment) Act, 2017 (12 of 2017), Article 2 (with effect from March 30, 2017).
412   The following was omitted by Constitution (Twenty-First Amendment) Act, 2015, Section 1(3) (with effect from January 7, 2019) : :
 413[Provided that the provisions of this Article shall have no application to the trial of persons under any of the Acts metnioned at serial No. 6, 7, 8 and 9 of sub-part III or Part I of the First Schedule, who claims, or is known, to belong to any terrorist group or organization using the name of religion or a sect.
Explanation:- In this proviso, the expression ‘sect’ means a sect of religion and does not include any religious or political party regulated under the Political Parties Order, 2002.
] 413
413   Inserted by Constitution (Twenty-First Amendment) Act, 2015, Article 2 (with effect from January 7, 2015).
414   Inserted by Constitution (Eighteenth Amendment) Act, 2010, Section 67 (with effect from April 19, 2010).
415   Inserted by Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2024 (26 of 2024), Section 7(i) (with effect from October 21, 2024).
416   Substituted by Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2024 (26 of 2024), Section 7(ii) (with effect from October 21, 2024) for :
(2) For appointment of Judges of the Supreme Court, the Commission shall consist of--
(i) Chairman
Chief Justice of Pakistan;
(ii) Members
 417[four] 417 most senior Judges of the Supreme Court;
(iii) Member
a former Chief Justice or a former Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to be nominated by the Chief Justice of Pakistan, in consultation with the  418[four] 418 member Judges, for a period of two years;
(iv) Member
Federal Minister for Law and Justice;
(v) Member
Attorney-General for Pakistan; and
(vi) Member
a Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan nominated by the Pakistan Bar Council for a term of two years.
 
417   Substituted by Constitution (Ninetenth Amendment) Act, 2010, Section 4(a)(i) (with effect from January 1, 2011) for "two".
418   Substituted by Constitution (Ninetenth Amendment) Act, 2010, Section 4(a)(ii) (with effect from January 1, 2011) for "two".
419   Substituted by Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2024 (26 of 2024), Section 7(iii) (with effect from October 21, 2024) for :
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in clause (1) or clause (2), the President shall appoint the most senior Judge of the Supreme Court as the Chief Justice of Pakistan.
 
420   Inserted by Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2024 (26 of 2024), Section 7(iv) (with effect from October 21, 2024).
421   Substituted by Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2024 (26 of 2024), Section 7(v) (with effect from October 21, 2024) for :
(4) The Commission may make rules regulating its procedure.
 
422   Substituted by Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2024 (26 of 2024), Section 7(vi)(A) (with effect from October 21, 2024) for "the most senior Judge of that High Court".
423   Substituted by Constitution (Ninetenth Amendment) Act, 2010, Section 4(b)(i) (with effect from January 1, 2011) for :
(iv) Member
a senior advocate to be nominated by the Provincial Bar Council for a period of two years:
424   Substituted by Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2024 (26 of 2024), Section 7(vi)(B) (with effect from October 21, 2024) for ":".
425   Inserted by Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2024 (26 of 2024), Section 7(vi)(B) (with effect from October 21, 2024).
426   Substituted by Constitution (Ninetenth Amendment) Act, 2010, Section 4(b)(ii) (with effect from January 1, 2011) for :
Provided that for appointment of Chief Justice of a High Court, the most senior Judge of the Court shall be substituted by a former Chief Justice or former Judge of that Court, to be nominated by the Chief Justice of Pakistan in consultation with the two member Judges of the Commission in clause (2):
Provided further that if for any reason the Chief Justice of High Court is not available, he shall also be substituted in the manner as provided in the foregoing proviso.
427   Substituted by Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2024 (26 of 2024), Section 7(vi)(C) (with effect from October 21, 2024) for :
Provided that for appointment of the Chief Justice of a High Court the most Senior Judge mentioned in paragraph (ii) shall not be member of the Commission:
428   Substituted by Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2024 (26 of 2024), Section 7(vi)(D) (with effect from October 21, 2024) for "Chief Justice of Pakistan in consultation with the four member Judges of the Commission mentioned in paragraph (ii) of clause (2)".
429   Substituted by Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2024 (26 of 2024), Section 7(vi)(E) (with effect from October 21, 2024) for ":".
430   Inserted by Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2024 (26 of 2024), Section 7(vi)(E) (with effect from October 21, 2024).
431   The following was omitted by Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2024 (26 of 2024), Section 7(vii)(A) (with effect from October 21, 2024) : "and".
432   Substituted by Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2024 (26 of 2024), Section 7(vii)(B) (with effect from October 21, 2024) for "the most senior Judge of that High Court".
433   Substituted by Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2024 (26 of 2024), Section 7(vii)(B) (with effect from October 21, 2024) for ":".
434   Inserted by Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2024 (26 of 2024), Section 7(vii)(C) (with effect from October 21, 2024).
435   Inserted by Constitution (Ninetenth Amendment) Act, 2010, Section 4(c) (with effect from January 1, 2011).
436   Inserted by Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2024 (26 of 2024), Section 7(vii)(D) (with effect from October 21, 2024).
437   Substituted by Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2024 (26 of 2024), Section 7(viii) (with effect from October 21, 2024) for :
(8) The Commission by majority of its total membership shall nominate to the Parliamentary Committee one person, for each vacancy of a Judge in the Supreme Court, a High Court or the Federal Shariat Court, as the case may be.
 
438   The following was omitted by Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2024 (26 of 2024), Section 7(ix) (with effect from October 21, 2024) : :
(9) The Parliamentary Committee, hereinafter in this Article referred to as the Committee, shall consist of the following eight members, namely:-
(i) four members from the Senate; and
(ii) four members from the National Assembly 439[:] 439
 440[Provided that when the National Assembly is dissolved, the total membership of the Parliamentary Committee shall consist of the members of the Senate only mentioned in paragraph (i) and the provisions of this Article shall, mutatis mutandis apply.] 440
 
(10) Out of the eight members of the Committee, four shall be from the Treasury Benches, two from each House and four from the Opposition Benches, two from each House. The nomination of members from the Treasury Benches shall be made by the Leader of the House and from the Opposition Benches by the Leader of the Opposition.
 
439   Substituted by Constitution (Ninetenth Amendment) Act, 2010, Section 4(d) (with effect from January 1, 2011) for ".".
440   Inserted by Constitution (Ninetenth Amendment) Act, 2010, Section 4(d) (with effect from January 1, 2011).
441   Substituted by Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2024 (26 of 2024), Section 7(x) (with effect from October 21, 2024) for "Senate".
442   The following was omitted by Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2024 (26 of 2024), Section 7(xi) (with effect from October 21, 2024) : :
(12) The Committee on receipt of a nomination from the Commission may confirm the nominee by majority of its total membership within fourteen days, failing which the nomination shall be deemed to have been confirmed:
 443[Provided that the Committee, for reasons to be recorded, may not confirm the nomination by three-fourth majority of its total membership within the said period:] 443
 444[Provided further that if a nomination is not confirmed by the Committee it shall forward its decision with reasons so recorded to the Commission through the Prime Minister:
Provided further that if a nomination is not confirmed, the Commission shall send another nomination.] 444
 
 445[
(13) The Committee shall send the name of the nominee confirmed by it or deemed to have been confirmed to the Prime Minister who shall forward the same to the President for appointment.
 
] 445
(14) No action or decision taken by the Commission or a Committee shall be invalid or called in question only on the ground of the existence of a vacancy therein or of the absence of any member from any meeting thereof.
 
 446[
(15) The meetings of the Committee shall be held in camera and the record of its proceedings shall be maintained.
 
(16) The provisions of Article 68 shall not apply to the proceedings of the Committee.
 
] 446
 447[(17)] 447 The Committee may make rules for regulating its procedure.
 
443   Substituted by Constitution (Ninetenth Amendment) Act, 2010, Section 4(e)(i) (with effect from January 1, 2011) for :
Provided that the Committee may not confirm the nomination by three-fourth majority of its total membership within the said period, in which case the Commission shall send another nomination.
444   Inserted by Constitution (Ninetenth Amendment) Act, 2010, Section 4(e)(ii) (with effect from January 1, 2011).
445   Substituted by Constitution (Ninetenth Amendment) Act, 2010, Section 4(f) (with effect from January 1, 2011) for :
(13) The Committee shall forward the name of the nominee confirmed by it or deemed to have been confirmed to the President for appointment.
 
446   Inserted by Constitution (Ninetenth Amendment) Act, 2010, Section 4(g) (with effect from January 1, 2011).
447   Renumbered from "(15)". by Constitution (Ninetenth Amendment) Act, 2010, Section 4(g) (with effect from January 1, 2011)
448   Inserted by Constitution (Twenty-sixth Amendment) Act, 2024 (26 of 2024), Section 7(xii) (with effect from October 21, 2024).
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