By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The United Nations’ top human rights official warned on Friday that Pakistan’s latest constitutional amendments, adopted in haste and without wide consultation, seriously erode the independence of the judiciary and threaten accountability for the military, raising profound concerns about the rule of law in a nation already grappling with political turbulence.
Volker Turk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said in a statement that the changes, known as the 27th Constitutional Amendment, “run counter to the separation of powers that underpin the rule of law and safeguard the protection of human rights in Pakistan.”
The amendments, signed into law by the president on Nov. 13 just hours after final Senate approval, establish a new Federal Constitutional Court with exclusive authority over constitutional matters, stripping that power from the Supreme Court, which will now handle only civil and criminal cases.
The statement highlighted shifts in the systems for appointing, promoting and transferring judges, changes that Turk said raised “serious concerns about undermining the structural independence of Pakistan’s judiciary.” He noted that the president and prime minister had already named the chief justice and the initial slate of judges for the new court.
“These changes, taken together, risk subjugating the judiciary to political interference and executive control,” Turk said. “Neither the executive nor legislative should be in a position to control or direct the judiciary, and the judiciary should be protected from any form of political influence in its decision-making.”
“A core measure of judicial independence is a tribunal’s insulation from political interference by the government. If judges are not independent, experience shows that they struggle to apply the law equally and to uphold human rights for all in the face of political pressure.”
The amendments come on the heels of the 26th Constitutional Amendment, which Turk said had similarly been pushed through without sufficient debate involving the legal community or civil society. The U.N. statement also criticised a provision in the new amendment granting lifetime immunity from criminal proceedings and arrest to the president, field marshal, marshal of the air force and admiral of the fleet. “Sweeping immunity provisions like these undermine accountability, which is a cornerstone of the human rights framework and democratic control of the armed forces under the rule of law,” Turk said. “I am concerned that these amendments risk far-reaching consequences for the principles of democracy and rule of law which the Pakistani people hold dear.”
The legislative process unfolded amid sharp opposition protests. The bill was first introduced in the Senate on Nov. 10 and passed that day. It then moved to the National Assembly, which approved it with modifications on Nov. 12. The revised measure returned to the Senate on Nov. 13 for a second vote. During the clause-by-clause review in the Senate, opposition members chanted slogans like “aain ki tabahi, na manzoor” — meaning “destruction of the Constitution, unacceptable” — leading Senate Chairman Yousuf Raza Gilani to interject at one point, “No slogans.” After a division vote, Gilani announced the result: “64 votes had been cast in favour of the bill and four against it. So the motion is carried by the votes of not less than two-thirds of the total membership of the Senate, and consequently, the bill stands passed.”
The coalition government has defended the amendments as necessary reforms to streamline judicial processes, but critics, including legal experts and opposition leaders, have decried them as an assault on democratic institutions, potentially consolidating power in the hands of the executive and military.
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