The 26th Amendment and the Politicization of Pakistan’s Judiciary
Abstract
The 26th constitutional Amendment of Pakistan enacted on October 21, 2024, brought some changes to the judiciary system. This paper will first discuss the judicial history of Pakistan and then answer many questions like when and how this amendment was passed, their implications on judicial independence, separation of power and public trust. The main criticism would be on the basis of timing, context and intent. How the appointment process was changed from seniority principle to special parliamentary committee for the appointment of judges. for this, the whole judicial composition was changed and the non judicial members were increased from the judicial members which further politicize the judiciary. The immediate cause of this amendment was the election rigging case of 2024 which the government considers as a threat, that is why they tried to control the judiciary. The research paper discusses the amendment's key provisions and evaluates its impacts one by one. The paper concludes by assessing and evaluating the long-term implications on the independence of judiciary and theory of separation of power.
Keywords: Theory of Separation of Power, Constitution, Rule of Law, Judicial Independence, Constitutional Amendment, Judicial Commission, Special Parliamentary Committee.
