Constitutional amendment to undermine independence of Pakistani judiciary: UN rights chief

​​​​​​​By Efe Ozkan

ISTANBUL (AA) - UN Human Rights chief Volker Turk expressed "concerns" Tuesday about Pakistan’s latest constitutional amendment, emphasizing it was "undermining" the independence of the judiciary.

“Latest constitutional amendments – adopted hastily, without broad consultation and debate – will seriously undermine independence of the judiciary. Constitutional reforms must be in line with international human rights law,” said Turk, according to a statement by his office on X.

The bicameral Pakistani parliament, in a pre-dawn vote Monday, passed the 26th constitutional amendment which was quickly signed into law.

A five-member "constitutional bench" of the Supreme Court will hear political and constitutional cases in the future while the government will appoint the chief justice of the Court for a three-year term based on the recommendation of a 12-member parliamentary committee from a panel of three senior-most judges, under the amended law/

Soon after the law took effect, parliament announced a committee that picked Justice Yahya Afridi as the new chief justice, superseding two most senior justices -- Mansoor Ali Shah and Munib Akhtar.

The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), a global judiciary watchdog, called the amendments a "blow" to the Pakistani judiciary.

The amendments "erode the judiciary’s capacity to independently and effectively function as a check against excesses by other branches of the State and protect human rights,” said ICJ General Secretary Santiago Canton, who added the changes brought an “extraordinary level of political influence over the process of judicial appointments and the judiciary’s own administration.”​​​​​​​

Afridi will assume the top office Saturday, if all goes smoothly.