ISLAMABAD:
Three important judicial forums — the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP), the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) and the Practice and Procedure Act (PAPA) committee of the Supreme Court — 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 newly formed Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) — Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi — have been nominated as members of the JCP and the SJC.
The JCP is the constitutional body that elevates judges to the superior courts
The SJC is the forum that hears complaints filed against judges of superior courts in view of alleged misconduct while the PAPA committee of the Supreme Court forms benches and lists cases.
Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail has been also appointed as a member of the SJC, but he has not been included in the JCP.
Justice Mandokhail was a member of the JCP formed under the 26th Constitutional Amendment.
The notification stated that in line with the principles of transparency and institutional continuity, Justice Mandokhail, who is a senior judge of the Supreme Court, has been nominated for two years as a member of the JCP under Article 209(2)(d).
The nomination 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 other members include Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi, and the two most senior chief justices of the high courts.
According to the SC notification, Justice Aamer Farooq — a judge of the FCC — has been nominated as a member of the JCP for two years, through a joint decision of CJP Afridi and CJ Khan.
Under the amended Article 175A(2), sub-clause (3A), one judge — either from the FCC or the Supreme Court — is to be jointly nominated by the CJ of the FCC and the chief justice of Pakistan for a term of two years.
Speaking to The Express Tribune, Advocate Hafiz Ehsan Khokhar said both the CJP and the FCC chief justice have the authority to jointly nominate one member.
CJP Yahya Afridi also heads the JCP.
Other members include Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, Justice Munib Akhtar, Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi, the federal law minister, the attorney general, a 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 member nominated by the National Assembly speaker.
CJP Afridi has also nominated Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail as a member of the PAPA Committee.
The notification stated that with the reconstitution of these bodies, they will continue to play a central role — under the amended constitutional framework — in accountability, judicial appointments, and the governance of judicial procedures.
The PML-N led government brought major changes in the country’s judicial system first through the 26th Constitutional Amendment bulldozed through parliament in October 2024 and later by the 27th Constitutional Amendment passed amid protest of opposition on November 12, 2025.
The 26th amendment had changed the composition of the JCP, allowing the executive to have greater say in the appointment of judges and also bifurcating the SC into regular and constitutional benches.
