ISLAMABAD:
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) has warned that judicial corruption in Pakistan has reached a systemic scale and could amount to grand corruption, saying the country’s justice system has become increasingly vulnerable to political influence and institutional capture.
The organization made these observations in a report titled ‘Under the Bench: Mapping Corruption Risks in Pakistan’s Judiciary’.
According to the summary, Pakistan’s democratic institutions, including the judiciary, have come under increasing pressure in recent years and have been progressively weakened and captured by executive power.
“This has been accompanied by a severe crackdown on fundamental freedoms, facilitated by repressive legislation and serious human rights violations. In this context, the judiciary has become a tool of repression and silencing of activists and dissidents,” the report says.
The report states that the 26th and 27th constitutional amendments have had a significant negative impact on judicial independence and the protection of the right to a fair trial in Pakistan.
“These developments mark a regressive change in the legal and constitutional order of Pakistan by completely removing the limited independence previously enjoyed by the judiciary,” the text said.
According to the report, high-level judicial appointments, training of judges and management of cases are now subject to political influences that run counter to international standards of judicial independence.
It further states that these structural distortions at the supreme level have also affected the lower judiciary, where judges are influenced by higher courts with regard to their conduct and decision-making, thereby increasing the potential for external pressure.
The report recommends repealing the two constitutional amendments in order to restore judicial independence.
Examining judicial corruption, the report states that corruption has become endemic throughout Pakistan’s justice system, undermining the independence and effectiveness of the judiciary as well as its ability to uphold the right to a fair trial and protect fundamental freedoms.
It identifies three interrelated factors favoring corruption: poor administration of justice at all levels of the justice system, leading to bribery and corrupt practices; cultural dynamics that encourage favoritism and nepotism; and the erosion of judicial independence, which resulted in what she describes as state capture of the higher judiciary.
The report also examines what it calls the failure of existing accountability mechanisms to effectively investigate allegations of corruption and hold those responsible to account.
He argues that institutions of accountability are increasingly politicized and used as tools of political victimization rather than mechanisms to combat systemic corruption. It highlights the lack of protection for whistleblowers in a context of increasing restrictions on freedom of expression and shrinking civic space.
According to the report, judicial corruption has serious human rights consequences, including violations of due process rights and equality before the law, particularly affecting low-income communities and minorities.
It also links corruption to the incidence of torture and the use of capital punishment and highlights its negative impact on gender equality within the legal profession and the justice system.
“The report concludes that there are indications that judicial corruption in Pakistan has reached a systemic scale and may amount to grand corruption,” it said.
It also proposes a series of recommendations aimed at addressing weaknesses in the administration of justice, improving transparency, strengthening accountability mechanisms, ensuring action against perpetrators of corruption and protecting whistleblowers.
The report said its findings were based on interviews with 30 interviewees, including four women, who had knowledge of the Pakistani justice system. Those interviewed included lawyers, former judges and retired judges – including two former Chief Justices of Pakistan, former Supreme Court judges and a former High Court judge – as well as journalists and representatives of civil society organizations.
The report further states that attacks on judicial independence and fundamental freedoms have been compounded by widespread corruption within public institutions.
Citing the 2025 National Corruption Perception Survey conducted by Transparency International Pakistan, the report said the police are perceived as the most corrupt institution in the country, while the judiciary ranks third nationally.
FIDH is an international human rights NGO bringing together nearly 200 member organizations. Since 1922, FIDH has defended all civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, according to its website.
