ISLAMABAD:
Three important meetings of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) — regarding the appointment of a Supreme Court judge and the appointment of chief justices of two high courts — are scheduled for December 2.
These meetings, chaired by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi, will be the first formal meetings of the JCP regarding appointments to the higher judiciary after the 27th constitutional amendment.
According to the agenda of the first meeting, the committee will consider the appointment of the Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court, for which the names of the three senior-most judges of the court will be considered.
The second meeting will focus on the appointment of a permanent chief justice of the Balochistan High Court (BHC), where once again the names of the three most senior judges of the BHC will be considered.
In the third meeting, the committee will discuss the appointment of a judge from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to the Supreme Court.
As per the agenda, the names under consideration will be those of the three most senior judges of the IHC: Chief Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb.
On November 18, three important judicial forums – the JCP, the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) and the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Act (PAPA) committee – were reconstituted in preparation for the 27th constitutional amendment.
According to a notification issued by the Supreme Court, two judges of the new Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) – Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi – have been appointed as members of the JCP and SJC.
The JCP is the constitutional body that elevates judges to higher courts
The SJC is the forum that hears complaints filed against superior court judges for alleged misconduct, while the PAPA committee of the Supreme Court forms benches and lists cases.
Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail was also made a member of the SJC, but he was not included in the JCP. Justice Mandokhail was a member of the JCP formed under the 26th Constitutional Amendment.
The notification said that in line with the principles of transparency and institutional continuity, Justice Mandokhail, who is a senior judge of the Supreme Court, has been appointed for two years as a member of the JCP under Article 209(2)(d). The appointment was made jointly by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi and FCC Chief Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan.
The SJC is headed by Chief Justice Yahya Afridi, while the other members include Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi and the two senior-most chief justices of the high courts.
According to the SC notification, Justice Aamer Farooq – an FCC judge – was appointed as a member of the JCP for two years, by a joint decision of CJP Afridi and CJ Khan.
Under the amended Section 175A(2), subsection (3A), a judge – either of the FCC or the Supreme Court – must be jointly appointed by the Chief Justice of the FCC and the Chief Justice of Pakistan for a term of two years.
The PML-N-led government made major changes in the country’s judicial system, first through the 26th constitutional amendment bulldozed by Parliament in October 2024, and then through the 27th constitutional amendment passed amid opposition protests on November 12, 2025.
