Pakistan passes constitutional amendments aimed at judiciary

The Parliament passed the 26th Constitutional Amendment Bill with two-thirds majority on Monday morning, bringing drastic changes in the judicial set up of the country and sealing the supremacy of the parliament over all organs of the state, including the Supreme Court of Pakistan. [ . . . ] Major thrust of the bill is on the establishment of Constitutional Bench at the federal and provincial level, which will exclusively tackle constitutional matters, sparing the Supreme Court of Pakistan to ordinary appellate jurisprudence. By amending Article 175 of the Constitution, the parliament has changed the method of induction of the Chief Justice of Pakistan. Instead of the previous practice of elevation of the senior most judge as the Chief Justice, the new CJP will now be selected from among the three senior most judges of the apex court. A 12-member special parliamentary committee will appoint the CJP with two-third majority. The committee will include eight members from the National Assembly and four from Senate. Members of the committee will be chosen from all political parties in both houses of the parliament on the basis of proportional representation.
Read the full article here: Pakistan Observer