ISLAMABAD:
Three important judicial forums – the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) and the Supreme Court Practice and Procedure Act (PAPA) committee – have been reconstituted in view of the 27th constitutional amendment.
According to a notification issued by the Supreme Court on Tuesday, 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 – FCC judge – was appointed as a member of the JCP for two years, by a joint decision of CJP Afridi and CJ Khan.
Under amended Section 175A(2), subsection (3A), a judge — either of the FCC or the Supreme Court — is to be jointly appointed by the Chief Justice of the FCC and the Chief Justice of Pakistan for a term of two years.
Speaking to The Express PK Press Club, lawyer Hafiz Ehsan Khokhar said the CJP and the FCC chief judge have the power to jointly appoint a member.
CJP Yahya Afridi also heads the JCP.
The other members include Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Federal Law Minister, Attorney General, lawyers nominated by the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC), two members each from the National Assembly and Senate representing the government and the opposition, and a woman nominated by the Speaker of the National Assembly.
CJP Afridi also appointed Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail as a member of the PAPA committee.
The notification said that with the reconstitution of these bodies, they would continue to play a central role – within the amended constitutional framework – in matters of accountability, appointment of judges and governance of judicial proceedings.
The PML-N-led government made major changes in the country’s judicial system, first through the 26th constitutional amendment, which was bulldozed through Parliament in October 2024, and then through the 27th constitutional amendment, passed amid opposition protests on November 12, 2025.
The 26th Amendment had changed the composition of the JCP, allowing the executive to have more say in the appointment of judges and also dividing the SC into regular and constitutional judges.
