Judges’ appointment: 19th amendment draft finalised

Senator Rabbani says the the draft will be presented to NA and Senate in the next session later this month.

ISLAMABAD: A parliamentary committee on constitutional reforms has finalised the draft of the 19th amendment to implement a Supreme Court order to amend mechanisms for appointing judges to the higher judiciary.

The Supreme Court asked the parliament in its October verdict to bring changes to a two-pronged criterion for judges’ appointment; the all-party committee evolved earlier in the year through inserting a new article (175-A) in the 18th constitutional amendment.

The government immediately announced it would abide by the court order and revived the Parliamentary Committee of Constitutional Reforms (PCCR) to undertake the task.

After a few initial meetings over the last two months, the committee decided to explore various options to ‘accommodate’ the Supreme Court’s order in the constitution including bringing a 19th amendment.

But on Sunday a couple of participants of the meeting said there was a consensus among the members that a new amendment would have to be brought.

Senator Raza Rabbani, chairman of the PCCR, told the media after the meeting that the draft would be presented to the National Assembly and the Senate in the next session later this month.

As many as 24 out of 26 members of the committee had put their signatures on the draft, said Raza adding that the other two would do so soon.

The Supreme Court in its interim order asked the parliament to amend the mechanism of appointment in such a way that it gives the chief justices a final say in nominating judges to be selected.

In its maiden meeting early last month, the committee decided to implement the court’s order in spirit though there were some ‘half-muted’ voices against it from various political parties.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 20^th, 2010.