ISLAMABAD: A five-member committee of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), headed by Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, will meet again on Sept 26 to resume the unfinished agenda it left during its last sitting on Aug 22.

The agenda relates to framing rules for the judicial performance evaluation of judges of all high courts and suggesting criteria for the elevation of judges to the superior judiciary.

Although the rules are yet to be framed, the 26th Constitution Amendment had amended Article 175A of the Constitution, emphasising that if the performance of a high court judge was found lacking or inefficient, the JCP would grant the judge a certain period for improvement, as deemed appropriate.

If, after the completion of this period, the judge’s performance was still found to be inefficient, the commission would send its report to the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) with a recommendation for removal.

The amendment also requires the commission to conduct an annual performance evaluation of high court judges. It further empowers the commission to make separate rules to establish effective standards for such evaluations.

Similarly, the 26th Amendment amended Article 177, which now stipulates that no one may be elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court unless he is a citizen of Pakistan and has either served as a judge of a high court for at least five years or has practiced as an advocate of a high court for not less than 15 years and is also an advocate of the Supreme Court.

On June 19, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi constituted a broad-based committee on judicial performance evaluation of high court judges. The body includes members from the judiciary, parliament, executive and the legal fraternity. It was tasked with preparing draft rules for annual judicial performance evaluations and developing criteria for the selection of judges in the superior courts.

At its last meeting, the committee had deferred the agenda of framing rules for regulating judicial performance evaluations, though it acknowledged that Article 175A(4) of the Constitution empowers it to develop such rules. The matter will now be taken up again in the near future.

Published in Dawn, September 23rd, 2025