19TH AMENDMENT SUMMARY • Major amendments proposed in the bill include one increasing the strength of a judicial commission headed by the Supreme Court chief justice, which must propose the names for appointments, from existing seven to nine — including four, rather than two, senior-most judges of the apex court besides a former judge of the court to be named by the chief justice — and fixing a minimum of 15 years` experience for a lawyer to be nominated on the body by the Pakistan Bar Council, besides the federal law minister and the attorney-general • Some other amendments provide that an eight-member Parliamentary Committee that must finally approve the appointment of judges would hold its meetings in camera, send its approval or rejection of a nomination to the prime minister instead of the president — who must finally notify an appointment — and that it would be exempted from a bar on discussing the conduct of judges in parliament • Another amendment makes it mandatory for the chief justice to consult the judicial commission in appointing ad-hoc judges • One amendment, unrelated to the Supreme Court ruling, raises the strength of another parliamentary committee for the appointment of a chief election commissioner to 12 from eight. 1 |Page
19th Amendment
• The 19th Amendment Bill, while envisaging a new system for appointments in the superior courts, aims at neutralising a probable source of conflict between the judiciary and the executive. • The amendment also raises the number of senior judges as members of the Judicial Commission to four. • Under the amendment, recommendations for the appointments of ad hoc judges in the superior courts will be made by the Chief Justice of Pakistan in consultation with the Judicial Commission. • Moreover, the bill proposes that in case of the National Assembly’s dissolution, members of the parliamentary committee will be from the Senate only.
