thumb|250px|[[Supreme Court of Pakistan Building|Supreme Court of Pakistan Building, Islamabad.]]

The Supreme Court of Pakistan ( SCP; ) is the supreme judicial authority and the apex court of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

Established in accordance with Part VII of the Constitution of Pakistan, it has ultimate and extensive appellate, original, and advisory jurisdictions on all courts (including the high courts, district, special and Shariat court), involving issues of laws and may act on the verdicts rendered on the cases in context in which it enjoys jurisdiction. In the court system of Pakistan, the Supreme Court is the final arbiter of legal disputes and was the final interpreter of constitutional law until the Twenty-seventh Amendment created the Federal Constitutional Court of Pakistan, and the highest court of appeal in Pakistan.

Currently, the Supreme Court is incorporated of Chief Justice of Pakistan, seventeen justices, and two ad-hoc appointments for Shariat Appellate Bench. Once appointed, justices are expected to complete a designated term and then retire at 65 years old, unless their term is terminated through resignation or impeachment by the supreme judicial committee resulted in a presidential reference in regards to the misconduct of judge(s). In their discourse judgement, the justices are often categorised as having the conservative, textual, moderate, and liberal philosophies of law in their judicial interpretation of law and judgements.

The Supreme Court has a permanent seat in Islamabad and meets at the Supreme Court Building at the Red Zone.

Until the enactment of the Government of India Act 1935 in 1935 that created the Federal Court, these new high courts had the distinctionary powers of being the highest Courts for all cases.

After the partition of India in 1947, the Federal Court was also partitioned between India and Pakistan as Justice Sir Harilal Kania became the first Chief Justice of India and Justice Sir Abdul Rashid becoming the first Chief Justice of Pakistan.

While the tradition of British law culture continues to remain an integral part of the judiciary, the modern existence of the Supreme Court of Pakistan came when the first set of the Constitution of Pakistan was promulgated on 23 March 1956. The ratification of the Constitution of Pakistan reestablished the Supreme Court in 1956, replacing the name "Federal Court" to "Supreme Court", initially had its seat in Karachi where the Sindh High Court exists now. In successive years, the Supreme Court was moved to Lahore High Court until the Supreme Court was permanently moved into its new building constructed in Islamabad in 1964.

These articles concern:

  • Article 176 – Composition of the Court
  • Article 177 – Appointment and qualifications of the Chief Justice
  • Article 178 – Oath of office
  • Article 179 – Retirement
  • Article 180 – Vacancy, absence, or inability of the Chief Justice
  • Article 181 – Vacancy, absence, or inability of other justices
  • Article 182 – Ad hoc appointments of justices
  • Article 183 – Location of Court
  • Article 184 – Jurisdiction in a dispute between two or more governments
  • Article 185 – Jurisdiction to hear and determine appeals
  • Article 186 – If requested, advise the President on important matters of law
  • Article 186A – Authority to transfer venue
  • Article 187 – Orders and subpoenas
  • Article 188 – Power to review its own judgements and orders
  • Article 189 – Binding nature of Supreme Court's decisions on all other Pakistani Courts
  • Article 190 – All executive and judicial authorities in Pakistan bound to aid the Supreme Court

Size of Court

The Part VII of the Constitution of Pakistan reconstituted the composition of Supreme Court and the high courts but it does not specify the number of justices to be served in the Supreme Court. Qualifications to be served as a supreme court justice are strictly imposed that are based on merit, personal intellectualism, and experiences as a judge in the high courts.

In 1947, the Supreme Court consisted of a Chief Justice and six senior judges from Sindh, Punjab, NWFP, Balochistan, and East Bengal. Over the several successive years, the work of the Court increased and cases began to accumulate, leading the Supreme Court requesting the Parliament to increase the number of judges.), however, coming together in larger benches of five or more (referred to as a constitution bench) when required to settle fundamental questions of law.

Eligibility, nomination and confirmation

The nomination of justices in the Supreme Court comes from an executive selection made by the Prime Minister based on judges' merited qualifications, personal intellectualism, and experiences as judge in high courts. The President then confirms the nomination summary and eventually appoints the Chief Justice and judges in the Supreme Court.

The Constitution states that a nominee is not eligible unless they are:

  • A citizen of Pakistan who:
  • has for a period of, or for periods aggregating, not less than five years been a judge of a High Court (including a High Court which existed in Pakistan at any time before the commencing day); or
  • has for a period of, or for periods aggregating not less than fifteen years been an advocate of a High Court (including a High Court which existed in Pakistan at any time before the commencing day).

Since the 1990s, the nomination and confirmation process has attracted considerable attention from the print press and electronic media, as news media often comments on the executive's selection for the appointment. Appointments of Chief Justices Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui, S.A. Shah, Iftikhar Chaudhry, Faisal Arab, and T.H. Jillani Saqib Nisar and Asif Saeed Khosa have gain prominent attention from media in all over the country, mainly due to their ideological and philosophical leanings.

Furthermore, the major and influential recommendations for judges to be elevated at the Supreme Court as justices comes from the Judicial Commission that is chaired by the Chief Justice of Pakistan who prepares the qualification summary before the nomination sent to executive.

Ad–hoc appointments and removal

There has been Ad hoc appointment in the Supreme Court made when the quorum of Judges is not possible to complete the sitting number of justices in the court, or if it is necessary to increase the number of justices in the Supreme Court.

A judge of the Supreme Court can be removed under the Constitution only on grounds of proven misconduct or incapacity and by an order of the President of Pakistan. A written reference has to be sent to the Supreme Judicial Council that will conduct the hearings of allegations of misconduct that would determine the removal of judge. Other benefits include the free housing and medical treatment as well as tax-free electricity bills.

Judicial independence

The Supreme Court has the explicit de jure powers and enjoys the powerful judicial independence to block the exercise of certain Prime Minister's executive powers or Parliament's legislative powers that repugnant to Constitution. The Supreme Court has maintained its institutional integrity and has been able to maintain its authority to some degree in the face of martial law in Pakistan in last decades.

In another example of a de jure power granted to the Court, article 17 of the Constitution states:

The Supreme Court thus provides, in principle, an important safeguard against the abuse of laws that could potentially have politically repressive consequences or in clear violation of human rights. In 2012, Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry retroactively barred Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani of holding the office after the latter was found of in charges of court of contempt and refusing to follow the court's orders.

In 2013, the Supreme Court took suo motu actions against populist Imran Khan of criticising against the judgement of the Supreme Court's senior judges in regards to the elections. The case was later dropped when Attorney-General assured the Supreme Court justices that Imran Khan did not insubordinate the judiciary.

The government, led by the Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) and supported by its coalition partner, the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), has argued that the amendment is necessary to curb what it views as judicial overreach. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif described the amendment as an assertion of legislative authority and a step toward restoring balance in Pakistan's constitutional structure. Supporters claim that the judiciary's previous involvement in political matters had, at times, led to decisions undermining elected governments and democracy itself.

Lawmakers from the opposition party the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), criticised the amendments as an effort to weaken the judiciary and called it a "black day" in Pakistan's constitutional history. United Nations Human Rights chief Volker Türk also expressed concern that the 26th Constitutional Amendment could significantly undermine the judiciary's independence, stating that "Constitutional reforms must be in line with international human rights law." The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) similarly criticised the amendment, describing it as a "blow to judicial independence." However, it also acknowledged that some reforms to the judicial system were needed to enhance efficiency and accountability.

In the 1970s–1980s, Justice Dorab Patel was the first Zorastrian, followed by Justice Rustom Sidwa who served as Supreme Court justice from 1989 until 1993. Justice Rana Bhagwandas was the first Hindu jurist who has distinction being the Chief Justice of Pakistan in 2007. Justice Qazi Faez Isa is of the Hazara descent who is currently serving as the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

In January 2022, Ayesha Malik was sworn in as the first female Supreme Court judge.

Judicial and philosophical leanings

The jurists/judges do not represent or receive the official political endorsements from the nation's political parties which is an acceptable professional practice in the executive branch of the government. As their American counterparts in the U.S. Supreme Court, the Jurists philosophical leanings in the Supreme Court are often categorised as conservative, moderate, liberal, and textualist that reflected in their judicial interpretation of the judgements in the impending cases of importance.

In 1947, Governor-General Muhammad Ali Jinnah confirmed the nomination of Justice Sir Abdul Rashid, at the behest of Prime Minister Liaquat Ali-Khan, was said to be a national conservative leanings in his judgement. The Supreme Court also overruled and overturned its convictions that called for validation of martial law in 1958. The Constitution Bench formed under Chief Justice Sh. Anwarul Haq, had contained Justice Muhammad Akram, Justice Dorab Patel, Justice Mohammad Haleem, Justice Nasim Hasan Shah, Justice Ghulam safdar Shah, Justice Kareem Illahi, Justice Waheedudin Ahmad, and Justice Kaisar Khan. By 1979, the Supreme Court greatly divided with Justice Dorab Patel, Justice G.S. Shah, and Justice Moh'd Haleem, who had the moderate and liberal leanings in their jurisprudence strongly disagreed with Bhutto's sentence of Capital punishment. On the other hand, Chief Justice Haq, Justice N.H. Shah, Justice Waheedudin Ahmad, and Justice Kaisar Khan, were described as having conservative/texualist ideology in their rulings and found Bhutto suitable for capital punishment; hence, marking a split decision by 4:3.

In 1993, Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto controversially elevated the Supreme Court jurist, SA Shah, who had known for his liberal jurisprudence, as Chief Justice over two senior ranking jurists at the Supreme Court. However, Justice Shah's judicial leanings did not protected the Benazir' administration when it was dismissed by President Farooq Leghari over allegations on corruption.

On 12 October 1999, the Supreme Court partially validated the martial law in the light of "doctrine of necessity" on the technicality but Chief Justice Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui decided to hear the petitions over the legality of the martial law. Although, the Supreme Court had only validated the martial law for three-years only, the Supreme Court's jurists and Justice Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui in clear view of this coup as a "violation of constitution" as Sharif's lawyers made a ground base for finding Musharraf of treason.

General Musharraf, acting as Chief Executive, forcefully retired the conservative leaning jurists and elevated the judges who had known to have libertarian views in their jurisprudence at the Supreme Court, including Justice Irshad Hasan Khan as Chief Justice. In 2002, The Supreme Court supervised the general elections successfully oversaw the transition of power from the office of Chief Executive to Prime minister.

In a lecture in November 2022, Justice Ayesha A. Malik observed an increasing tendency to bring political and social issues to court that would be more suited for resolution within parliament or by the executive. Noting that this is the point at which balancing of power, judicial restraint (refraining from undue interference in other branches of government) and legal clarity become relevant, Malik expressed the view that courts should not act solely on compassion but instead prioritise upholding the rule of law.

Ruling on taxpayer rights

In a landmark 2025 judgment, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ruled against the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), emphasising that tax recovery must uphold the dignity and legal rights of citizens. Authored by Justice Ayesha Malik, the ruling dismissed FBR's petition to justify same-day recovery notices under Section 140 of the Income Tax Ordinance.

The Court underscored that such practices violate the principles of due process under Article 10A and the constitutional right to dignity under Article 14. The bench, led by Justice Munib Akhtar, reaffirmed that even in tax matters, coercive actions must not harass or intimidate taxpayers a reflection of the broader plight faced by many Pakistanis under heavy-handed enforcement

Court composition

The justices and jurists of the supreme court are set to retire at the age of 65, unless the jurists sooner resign or are removed from office, or records written reasons for deviating from this rule in accordance with the Constitution. There are two ad hoc appointment of the jurists from the Federal Shariat Court to assist with religiosity concerned cases.

thumb|Supreme Court of Pakistan from govt flats, Islamabad.

Chief Justice of Pakistan and justices

As of current formation, Yahya Afridi is tenuring as the Chief Justice of Pakistan, having been appointed on 26 October 2024. The Supreme Court is currently composed of the following justices (in order of seniority), including the eighteen regular judges (inclusive of the Chief Justice) and two ad-hoc judges for Shariat Appellate Bench.

The Shariat Appellate Bench is composed of legal scholars that have expertise on Islamic jurisprudence since its establishment in 1980. The ad hoc appointments for this bench are drawn either from the Federal Shariat Court or from among the Clergy. Decisions made the Federal Shariat Court may be appealed to the Appellate Bench, as the Appellate Bench of Supreme Court is the final authority on Islamic interpretation of law in Pakistan.

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|-

! Order !! Name !! Appointment !! Retirement !! Court of precedence !! Notes

|-

| 1

|Yahya Afridi

|

|

|Peshawar High Court

|30th Chief Justice of Pakistan

|-

| 2

|Munib Akhtar

|

|

|Sindh High Court

|Contender for the 31st Chief Justice of Pakistan after the retirement of Yahya Afridi on 25 October 2027

|-

| 3

|Jamal Khan Mandokhail

|

|

|Balochistan High Court

|

|-

| 4

| Muhammad Ali Mazhar

|

|

| Sindh High Court

|Contender for the 31st Chief Justice of Pakistan after the retirement of Yahya Afridi on 25 October 2027

|-

| 5

| Ayesha Malik

|

|

| Lahore High Court

|Contender for the 31st Chief Justice of Pakistan after the retirement of Yahya Afridi on 25 October 2027

|-

|6

|Shahid Waheed

|

|

|Lahore High Court

|

|-

|7

|Musarrat Hilali

|

|

|Peshawar High Court

|

|-

|8

|Irfan Saadat Khan

|

|

|Sindh High Court

|

|-

|9

|Naeem Akhtar Afghan

|

|

|Balochistan High Court

|

|-

|10

|Malik Shehzad Ahmed Khan

|

|

|Lahore High Court

|

|-

|11

|Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi

|n/a

| n/a

|International Islamic University

|McGill University, Canada

|-

|27

|Qibla Ayaz

|n/a

| n/a

|

|University of Edinburgh

|}

Registry and officers

The registry of the Supreme Court is its appointed officers who is assisted by registrars, several additional and deputy registrars, gazetted officers, and other law clerks. The registry branches provides speedy justice of all nature of crimes and disputes to the people living in remote areas in the country, while keeping the civil registry of the people. Lahore, Peshawar, and Quetta.

The Officers and Registrars are appointed by the supreme court with the approval from the chief justices of High Courts and the President and may make rules providing for the appointment by for their terms and conditions of employment that is granted by the Constitution.

Law clerks and supreme court advocates

The Supreme Court has an extensive competitive program for the appointment of the law clerks and research associates at the Supreme Court Library. The Supreme Court hires the law clerks based on the recommendations provided by their professors from their respected universities and colleges. Law clerks reviews the petitions for writ of certiorari, research them, prepare bench memorandums, and draft opinions, and reported back to the supreme court's administrative registrar.

The Pakistan Bar Council provides qualification for senior advocates, barristers, lawyers, and selected civil court judges to be elevated as Advocate Supreme Court (ASC) based on individual experience, qualifications, and selected invitations.

Court campus and facilities

thumb|right|The Supreme Court of Pakistan.

The Supreme Court Building is located at the Constitution Avenue in Islamabad, flanked by the Prime Minister's Office to the south, the Presidential Palace and the Parliament Building to the north.

Initially, the Supreme Court met in Karachi and later moved to Lahore/Rawalpindi on various location until 1960 after the government moved to Islamabad.

The Supreme Court Building is designed by the renowned Japanese architect, Kenzo Tange, in a modernist style complementing the Parliament Building.

The Court complex judges' chambers, a separate building consisting of the law library, various meeting spaces, and auxiliary services including a lecture auditorium. The Museum's collections include fine arts, oral histories, photographs, personal belongings of judges and chief justices and an archival collection of rare documents.

The Supreme Court enjoys a powerful jurisdiction in the country including on the federal government, provincial governments, governmental agencies, NGOs, and where the government and governmental agencies fails to perform its mandated duty to protect the basic human rights or deviating from the law in light of taking the Suo motu notice.

The independent jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is taken as positive by the legal observers as an attempt of providing a fair, speedy, and public trial of authorities accused of abusing the basic human rights.

The Supreme Court also has an original jurisdiction in any dispute between any two or more provincial governments or the Government of Pakistan itself where the Supreme Court may pronounce declaratory judgments only to settle the disputes. On events involving the legal and technical issues concerning the implementation of law and the writ of constitution, Supreme Court has an advisory jurisdiction to answer questions and provides written opinions on public importance as consulted by the President upon the request from the Prime Minister.

The Supreme Court also enjoys the plenary jurisdiction and may exercise its plenary powers for passing appropriate orders to ensure the completion of its orders and to complete the justice at all levels of commands.

Rules and process

Rulings and transfer of cases

The Supreme Court is empowered to frame its own rules for the purpose of regulating the practice and procedure of the Court. When the cases are determined as their final rulings, the jurists deliver their rulings in an open court, either at once or by announcing a future date to the concerned parties through their advocates upon writing their opinions during their recesses.

All cases that come before the supreme court through the writs of certiorari that are processed through the law clerks and advocates. If the parties, despite the opportunity granted by the

court to make oral submissions, do not avail the same, the court is not bound to wait indefinitely for them and keep on adjourning the matter. It is possible that, through recusals or vacancies, the Court divides evenly on a case, as such happened on the case Nusrat Bhutto v. Federation of Pakistan (1977–78). Secondly, comprehensive opinions and orders are bound together in paperback form in which the final version of the Court's opinions appears which is called a preliminary print of "Annual Report".

About a year after the paperbacks are published, a final and more cited volume of decision of supreme court volume of Annual Report is published and numbered whereas the researchers may cite the works in their reports.

Supreme Court Bar Association

All supreme court advocates are required to be members of the Supreme Court Bar Association in order to plead the cases before the court. Formed and established in 1989, the Bar comprises the supreme court lawyers who are elected from all over the country and is aimed to uphold the rule of law, cause of justice and protect the interest of the legal profession as well as that of public.

The Bar is governed by an executive council consisting of 22 elected members with an elected president and a secretary. Advocates can be admitted as either individuals or groups and their admission is approved by the elected president of the Bar. The de jure institutional powers of the Supreme Court as outlined in the Constitution can only be understood as an exemplary of constitutional cases involving the actions of the Pakistan's military turning over the civilian government in an attempt to restore law and order to prevent chaos in the society. There were three constitutional cases overheard by the Supreme Court:

  1. Federation of Pakistan et al. v. Maulvi Tamizuddin Khan
  2. Usif Patel v. Two others v. The Crown
  3. Special Reference made by the Governor-General of Pakistan

First, the Supreme Court validated the Governor-General's actions in case 1 but soon considered such powers as Ultra vires in case 2 and case 3. However, the Court found it legal in its jurisdiction in thrice cases when it validated the actions under the impression of "doctrine of necessity". In 1975, the institutional powers of the Supreme Court were constraint after the passing of the fifth amendment that ultimately disturbed the "checks and balances" system in the country, that eventually strain the executive and judiciary relations. In a controversial leanings of 4:3, the Supreme Court upheld the death sentence and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto but it maintained its institutional integrity while taking many cases involving the Zia administration. The institutional de jure powers of the Supreme Court were restored to its original position after the passing of the Eighth Amendment in 1985. After the lengthy court battle between Sharif's and Musharraf's lawyers, the Supreme Court was in a clear view of the military take over as "unconstitutional" but favoured the legality on necessity grounds that was viewed as very limited, on 12 May 2000.

Widely publicised case, the Nawaz Sharif vs. Federation, the supreme court relied its judgement based on the principle of salus populi est suprema lex and rejected the options of "complete surrender" to the regime or total opposition which, in its judgement, would have led to the "closure of the courts".

In a much publicised case, the Supreme Court effectively used its constitutional powers when it ceased Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani from running the government when the court found him guilty of contempt of court charges– hench disqualified the prime minister from holding any public offices in the country.

Literary criticism of the Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has been given literary criticism by historians and authors of history of Pakistan for validating the martial law against the elected governments of Pakistan by the military interventions.

The Lawyer's movement, allied with the rule of Law movement led by PML(N), eventually called for a successful long march to have to justices of the supreme court restored before the state of emergency imposed in 2007. Led under the direction of PML(N) President Nawaz Sharif, now the Prime Minister, the long march effectively restored the supreme court justices when Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani appeared on national television, only to announce unconditional restoration of the judiciary.

With immediate effect on 17 March 2009, Justices Javaid Iqbal, Ijaz Ahmed, K. R. Ramday, and Raja Muhammad Fayyaz Ahmad were restored to their position as of 2 November 2007 with Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry assuming the post of Chief Justice on 22 March 2009. News media pundits eventually noted that it was General Tariq Majid, then-Chairman joint chiefs, and General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, then-army chief, had played an ambiguous role in intervening and encouraging a rapprochement between the government and the opposition. Neither side acknowledged this role, however, until lawyers' movement leader Aitezaz Ahsan publicly admitted Kayani's role. There were mass speculations that protestors and law enforcement agencies would have violently collided otherwise had they not intervened.

| Supreme Court Judge

| Khokkhar resigned from the Court on 5 August 2009. His normal retirement would have been 15 April 2010

|-

| Justice M. Javed Buttar

| 29 July 2004 on the ground that their appointment to the court was made without consultation with the de jure Chief Justice of Pakistan.

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Name

! Appointed

! Status on 2 Nov 2007

! PCO oath, Result of Judgement

|-

| Justice Muhammad Qaim Jan Khan

| 6 November 2007

| Peshawar High Court Judge

| Khan became a Supreme Court justice on 6 November 2007. He was removed and deemed to have retired as a judge.

|-

| Justice Ijaz-ul-Hassan

| 6 November 2007

| Peshawar High Court Judge

| Ijaz-ul-Hassan became a Supreme Court justice 6 November 2007. He was removed and deemed to have retired as a judge.

|-

| Justice Mohammad Moosa K. Legari

| 6 November 2007

| Judge Sindh High Court

| Legari became a Supreme Court justice 6 November 2007. He was removed and deemed to have retired as a judge.

|-

| Justice Ch. Ejaz Yousaf

| 6 November 2007

| Chairman Press Council

| Yousaf was a retired Chief Justice of the Federal Shariat Court before he became a Supreme Court justice.

| Lahore High Court Judge

| Ali became a Supreme Court justice 8 February 2008. He was removed and deemed to have retired as a judge.

|-

| Justice Muhammad Furrukh Mahmud

| 8 February 2008

| Retired Lahore High Court Judge

the Supreme Court applied its judgement retroactively, having effect from 3 November 2007. The 14-member Supreme Court bench did not, however, apply the sanction to judges who took oath under the 1999 PCO. Some of these are current justices, and some have not yet taken a constitutional oath.

Critics of the decision also argue that it is inconsistent with the principles laid down in Malik Asad Ali's case where it was held that the Chief Justice was bound by the Court's judgement. Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah was removed from office based on this case.

Inconsistently with the decision, the present Chief Justice Chaudhry accepted the stance of the government that Justice Dogar was the Chief Justice until his retirement.

Following the decision, the official website of the Supreme Court was hacked by an unknown person. The hacked website made derogatory remarks about Chief Justice Chaudhry.

See also

  • Attorney General of Pakistan
  • Federal Shariat Court
  • List of justices of the Supreme Court of Pakistan
  • List of cases of the Supreme Court of Pakistan
  • Law of Pakistan
  • Ministry of Law & Justice of Pakistan
  • Minister of Law & Justice Pakistan
  • The Pakistan Bar Council and the five province-level bar councils:
  • Balochistan Bar Council
  • Islamabad Bar Council
  • Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Bar Council
  • Punjab Bar Council
  • Sindh Bar Council
  • Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan and the provincial High Court Bar Associations:
  • Lahore High Court Bar Association
  • The five High Courts of Pakistan:
  • Balochistan High Court
  • Islamabad High Court
  • Lahore High Court
  • Peshawar High Court
  • Sindh High Court
  • Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court

References

  • Supreme Court of Pakistan
  • Law and Justice Commission Government of Pakistan
  • Supreme Court of Pakistan Android App