Govt, opp finalise names for JCP

The government and opposition have finalized two names each for Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), which is going through a process of re-constitution in the light of 26th amendment.

The government nominations for JCP include PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari from National Assembly and PML-N leader Senator Irfan Siddiqui from Senate, while the opposition members include PTI leader Umar Ayub from National Assembly and Leader of the Opposition in Senate, Senator Shibli Faraz

The sources said that the government and opposition finalised their nominations after a letter was written by National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq to the parliamentary leaders of the political parties for inclusion of parliamentarians into Judicial Commission of Pakistan.

They said the names of opposition members for the JCP from National Assembly and Senate were finalized after the approval from PTI founder Imran Khan.

They further said that the parliamentary leaders of the political parties will forward their nominations to the NA Speaker on Thursday.

The freshly-amended Article 175-A states that a 13-member judicial commission, comprising the chief justice, three most senior judges of the Supreme Court, most senior judge of the constitutional benches, law minister, attorney general for Pakistan, a nominee from the Pakistan Bar Council, two members each from the National Assembly and the Senate, and a woman or non-Muslim from outside parliament will work for the appointment of the judge in the Supreme Court, high court and the federal Shariat Court.

Under Article 175-A, the commission, by the majority of its total membership, shall nominate one person for each vacancy of a judge in the Supreme Court, a high court or the Federal Shariat Court, as the case may be, to the prime minister, who shall forward the same to the president for appointment.

It adds that the commission will also evaluate high court judges’ annual performance, adding that if the performance of a judge were found to be inefficient, the commission shall grant him a period for improvement, as it deemed appropriate.

If, it adds, upon completion of the period so granted, the performance of such a judge is again found to be unsatisfactory, the commission shall send its report to the Supreme Judicial Council – which hears cases of misconduct against judges.

The 26th Amendment states that the commission may make separate rules for setting up effective standards for performance evaluation.

One third of the members can requisition a meeting by sending a written request to the chairperson who shall convene the meeting of the commission not later than 15 days from the receipt of such a requisition.