Overruling the Judicial Commission of Pakistan, committee approved a one-year extension for two SHC additional judges. PHOTO: FILE
ISLAMABAD: On the recommendation of the superior judiciary, the federal government has decided to lower the minimum age for nomination as a superior court judge from 45 years to 40 years.
A senior official in the law ministry has revealed to The Express Tribune that the ministry has prepared an initial draft bill of the constitutional amendment to lower the minimum age for high court judges by five years.
The official said in the original Constitution, the minimum age was 40 years but later it was extended to 45 years by former president Pervez Musharraf.
“A bill will be introduced soon for making a constitutional amendment in Article 193 of the Constitution,” he said, adding: “The criterion for the minimum age is being reduced on the recommendation of the superior judiciary.”
Earlier, the Supreme Court proposed to the federal government not to increase the numbers of the judges in the apex court due to certain ground realities. Upon their advice, the government has given up this plan for the time being.
Talking to The Express Tribune, Attorney General of Pakistan Ashtar Ausaf Ali said restoring the original text of the Constitution will help in two ways.
“Firstly, we will have a larger pool to select judges from. There are a lot of talented lawyers who by the age of 45 plus establish a good practice and do not wish to take up the job of a judge.
“Secondly, they will have more time to work. Presently, the tenure of a judge if he is inducted at the age of 45 is 17 years. By restoring the original text the tenure will be 22 years,” he said,
An active lawyer Asad Rahim Khan also supported the federal government’s move to reduce the minimum age criterion for the people nominated as the high courts’ judges and recommended the superior judiciary to prefer the elevation of competent young civil courts judges in the high courts.
“We see that at present, lower court judges, who reach the date of their retirement, are being elevated in the high courts,” he said.
Asad said the lower courts are where the vast majority of litigation takes place, but they are left to their own devices. “We should focus on judges at district level transitioning to the superior courts, through performance-based service structures”, he said.
However, Yasin Azad – the Pakistan Bar Council representative in the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) – is not in favour of the reducing the age as he believes that minimum age of 45 is good for becoming judge of the high courts.
Earlier, the Supreme Court changed the criterion for getting practicing license of the SC’s lawyer by reducing practice experience from 10 to 7 years.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 21st, 2016.
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