• Justice Mandokhail inducted into Supreme Judicial Council
• Also joins three-member SC Practice and Procedure Committee
• FCC Justice Aamer Farooq made JCP member
• SC says new bodies to play role in matters of accountability, judicial appointments
• International Commission of Jurists voices concerns

ISLAMABAD: As the dust settles after the passage of the 27th Amendment, changes have been made to key constitutional and statutory judicial bodies.

Following the restructuring, Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail of the Supreme Court has been included in the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) and the Practice and Procedure Committee, while Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) Justice Aamer Farooq has been made a member of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP).

Among the three statutory bodies, the SJC is the top forum for judicial accountability, as it investigates allegations of misconduct against judges. The Practice and Procedure Committee forms benches and fixes cases, while the JCP is responsible for appointing judges to the superior judiciary.

Changes in their composition were required to synchronise them with the latest constitutional amendment.

A Supreme Court press release issued on Tuesday said: “Pursuant to the 27th Constitutional Amendment, [these] key constitutional and statutory judicial bodies […] have been reconstituted in accordance with the revised constitutional framework.”

Elaborating on the changes, the statement said Justice Mandokhail, being the second-most senior judge of the Supreme Court, had been jointly nominated by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi and FCC Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan as a member of the SJC.

Apart from Justice Mandokhail, the SJC will now comprise the CJP, FCC Chief Justice Aminuddin, Justice Munib Akhtar of the Supreme Court, Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi of the FCC, Lahore High Court Chief Justice Aalia Neelum and Islamabad High Court Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar.

Under the 27th Amendment, the SJC is to be headed by the senior-most judge between the CJP and the FCC chief justice, with inter se seniority determined by the dates of their appointment as heads of their respective courts. This means CJP Yahya Afridi will continue to chair the body.

The Supreme Court statement added that the two chief justices had also nominated Justice Mandokhail to the Practice and Procedure Committee.

Under the Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Act, 2023, the three-judge committee will now comprise the CJP, Justice Akhtar, and Justice Mandokhail, who has become the second-most senior judge following the resignation of Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah.

According to the Supreme Court, Justice Aamer Farooq, the second-most senior judge of the FCC, was jointly nominated by the chief justices of the Supreme Court and FCC as a member of the JCP.

The reconstituted JCP will now comprise the CJP, the FCC chief justice, Justice Munib Akhtar, FCC Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Aamer Farooq, Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Pakistan Bar Council representative Ahsan Bhoon, two members of the National Assembly, two members of the Senate and a woman or non-Muslim nominated by the National Assembly speaker.

“The reconstituted bodies will continue to play a central role in matters of accountability, judicial appointments and procedural governance under the amended constitutional scheme,” the press release said.

The changes in the bodies’ composition come amid a restructuring of th judiciary following the enactment of the 27th Amendment.

The contentious amendment, which led to the establishment of the FCC, was passed by parliament amid opposition outcry. It has been criticised by some legal experts as a means of dethroning the Supreme Court as the country’s highest judicial forum and ceding that position to the FCC.

Former and sitting judges, as well as lawyers, have voiced opposition to the amendment, particularly over its implications for the Supreme Court.

Hours after the amendment was enacted on Nov 13, two Supreme Court judges — senior puisne judge Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Athar Minallah — resigned, citing reservations about the new law.

ICJ’s reservations

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) also raised concerns about several key aspects of the amendment, including the creation of the FCC, the appointment of judges and chief justices to the Supreme Court and FCC, the composition of the JCP, the transfer of high court judges and the immunities granted to the president and military leadership.

“Before the amendment, the Supreme Court of Pakistan exercised the functions that have now been given to the FCC,” the ICJ said in a statement issued last week. “Following the amendment, the Supreme Court will now effectively be an appellate court only in matters that do not involve the interpretation of the Constitution of Pakistan.”

The ICJ noted that the first batch of FCC judges would be appointed by the president on the prime minister’s advice, with future judges appointed on the recommendation of the JCP, while the FCC chief justice would be chosen by a “special parliamentary committee”.

“The amendment does not provide any criteria on which the appointments will be made and does not require reasons to be given for the appointments, apart from general qualifications necessary to be considered a judge of the FCC,” the statement said.

“The appointments are also of concern as the [chief justice] of the FCC and the senior-most judge of the FCC will also be members of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan … and the Supreme Judicial Council,” it added.

Published in Dawn, November 19th, 2025