ISLAMABAD:
The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) has ruled that strikes called by bar associations and bar councils are not only illegal, but also violate litigants’ constitutional right to access justice, finding that such actions deprive citizens of legal representation and further burden an already strained justice system.
In a detailed 20-page judgment written by Justice Aamer Farooq, the FCC upheld a Peshawar High Court (PHC) ruling that reinstated the practicing licenses of two lawyers.
The Court observed that the lawyers’ strikes amounted to a denial of access to justice and could not be justified, whatever the cause. “The practice of calling for strike action by the Bar Associations or Bar Councils is common in the subcontinent. This practice is not only illegal but also constitutes a violation of the right of access to justice of a litigant and his lawyer,” Justice Aamer Farooq noted while hearing the Peshawar High Court Bar Association against the PHC order by which the practicing license of two lawyers was restored.
The decision observes that when a strike call is made, lawyers’ organizations prevent lawyers from appearing in court. “So, in essence, a litigant, on that day, is deprived of his right of counsel to represent him, and the hearing in his case is adjourned without any progress in the case.”
According to the facts of the case, the case arose from the murder of a young lawyer, in which a police station officer was involved.
An FIR was duly registered and the incident triggered protests demanding that the officer be brought to justice. The police officer then went to court and was taken into custody. He then hired lawyer Shabbir Hussain Gigyani as his lawyer.
These developments prompted the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council to pass a resolution banning any lawyer from representing the accused police officer.
Meanwhile, lawyer Ali Azim Afridi faced disciplinary proceedings when his license was suspended by the executive committee of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council in an emergency meeting convened on October 8, 2025.
The suspension followed a communication from the Peshawar Bar Council, which described his appearance in court during a declared strike as an act of “indiscipline”.
The respondents challenged the suspension of their licenses before the PHC, which granted their petitions through a consolidated judgment.
“Denial of access to justice”
A division panel of the FCC, led by Judge Aamer Farooq, found that the lawyers’ strikes amounted to a denial of access to justice.
“Our legal system is already overloaded and the lists of cases before the courts are heavy and litigants have to wait years and years for the case to be concluded and in such a state of affairs, the call for a strike launched by some of the legal profession adds to the plight of litigants.”
The court further observed: “However noble the cause of the lawyers’ strike, it is neither the solution nor the means to express their concerns, as it is at the expense of a litigant who is waiting for his grievance to be redressed or justice to be done. »
“The denial of access to justice, in any form, constitutes a violation of the Constitution, whether it is the failure to appear in court or the closure of administrative or judicial offices.”
The FCC has ruled that lawyers are completely prohibited from representing litigants or appearing in court.
