Addressing the media at Supreme Court, Qazi Anwer, President SCBA, expressed his reservations over the recommendations for the appointment of judges of the superior courts. He said that it was a matter of great concern for the Members of SCBA that the Constitution Committee of Parliament recently announced that the Committee had reached an agreement on the appointments of the judges in the superior judiciary through a Parliamentary Commission.
The procedure laid down by the Committee made it clear that there would be a 50:50 membership of the government and opposition parties as far as the Parliamentary Commission is concerned. According to the procedure, he said, there will be two Commissions - one Judicial Commission and the other Parliamentary Commission.
The Judicial Commission would make the recommendation while the final approval would be made by the Parliamentary Commission, he added. He said the SCBA had taken a serious notice of the above said recommendations of the Committee, adding that these recommendations could be termed another attack on the independence of judiciary by the executive through the institution of Parliament.
"It is a matter of record the present Parliament is an outcome of that disputed elections, which were held in the period of Pervaiz Musharraf, it is a hard fact that many national parties boycotted this election, so the sincerity and independence of the Parliament is under question," he said. Afterwards, the SCBA issued a statement which underlined the following points.
That the appointment of the judges of superior courts through Parliamentary Committee is against the separation and independence of judiciary, which is a basic feature of the Constitution and cannot be altered. That vesting such power in a Parliamentary Committee would politicise the process of appointment of judges which is against the intent of the Constitution and certainly not to the best of interest of the country.
That such process of appointment would weaken the judiciary as an institution and organ of the State. That in view of the changed situation since March 2007 and the lawyers' movement for the restoration and independence of judiciary followed by the independent verdicts being rendered by the Courts after restoration of judiciary, the contents of Charter of Democracy (COD) (finalised in the year 2006) regarding judicial' approximates and other judicial reforms have become redundant and can not form a basis for Constitutional amendments.
The Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan is also disappointed that recommendations by the Parliamentary Committee are being finalised secretly. It would have been appropriate if such recommendations were circulated amongst the Bar Councils and principal Bar Associations of the country particularly the High Court Bar Associations throughout the country and their comments and views should have been solicited by the Parliamentary Committee.
The Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan feels that the recommendations of the Parliamentary Committee should be made public immediately and be circulated amongst the Bar Councils and Bar Associations and other institutions of civil society for their comments and response.