ISLAMABAD: Senior lawyer Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan on Thursday filed a petition in the Supreme Court, seeking a review of the court’s May 7, 2025, judgement that upheld the military trials of civilians.

Moved through senior counsel Sardar Latif Khan Khosa, the review petition has urged that any proceedings in the matter be heard by a full court (consisting of all serving Supreme Court judges), given the gravity of potential violations of fundamental rights and the importance of the constitutional questions.

This is the third such review plea, following earlier petitions submitted by former chief justice of Pakistan Jawwad S. Khawaja, the Lahore High Court Bar Association (LHCBA) and the Lahore Bar Association.

All petitions call on the apex court to revisit its judgement, warning that allowing military trials of civilians would set a dangerous precedent of ceding judicial authority to the executive by accepting that it can act as judge to try civilians in criminal cases.

In his petition, Mr Ahsan argued that the issue raises overarching questions of public importance that directly affect the fundamental rights of citizens and their access to an independent judicial forum. He maintained that since the matter spans multiple provinces, relying on high court jurisdiction would cause delays that cannot be justified given the severity of the issues at stake.

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2025