Justice Aminuddin Khan was on Thursday appointed the inaugural Chief Justice of the Federal Constitutional Court (FCC).
The development comes hours after the 27th Constitutional Amendment was signed into law by President Asif Ali Zardari and shortly after Supreme Court Justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah resigned from their offices in protest.
Justice Aminuddin will take oath at the Presidency tomorrow at 10am. President Asif Ali Zardari will administer the oath. The chief justices and judges of superior courts, high ranking officials have been invited to participate in the oath-taking ceremony
Sources had told Dawn the FCC would initially comprise six other judges — four from the Supreme Court and two from the high courts — besides the chief justice. The names being discussed for the inaugural composition included Justice Hasan Azhar Rizvi, Justice Musarrat Hilali, Justice Aamer Farooq, and Justice Baqar Najafi from the SC, while Justice KK Agha of the Sindh High Court and Justice Rozi Khan Barrech, the incumbent Chief Justice of Balochistan High Court, were being considered from the high courts.
The sources had also said that the initial strength of the FCC would be determined through a Presidential Order, while any subsequent increase in the number of judges would require approval through an Act of Parliament.
Officials at the law ministry confirmed that the President, acting on the advice of the prime minister, would issue the formal appointment orders. They added that under the provisions of the amendment, the President would be constitutionally empowered to make such appointments to the newly-constituted court.
The proposal to establish the Federal Constitutional Court was revived as part of the judicial reforms package incorporated in the 27th Constitutional Amendment Act.
The amendment aimed to rationalise the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and introduce greater efficiency in the adjudication of constitutional questions.
According to government officials, the creation of the FCC is intended to reduce the Supreme Court’s workload, ensure timely adjudication of constitutional cases, and strengthen the independence and credibility of the judicial system. The concept of a separate constitutional court is not new.
It was first introduced in the Charter of Democracy (CoD) signed by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) in 2006.
The CoD envisaged the establishment of a specialised court dedicated solely to constitutional matters, allowing the Supreme Court to focus primarily on its appellate jurisdiction.
The idea resurfaced during discussions on the 26th Constitutional Amendment, but was shelved at the time following resistance from the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and certain other political factions.
Under the current proposal, judges serving in the FCC will retire at the age of 68 years — three years higher than the retirement age for Supreme Court judges, who retire at 65.
The new court will not be housed within the Supreme Court premises. Officials indicated that it is likely to be established in the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) building in Islamabad. In turn, the Federal Shariat Court is expected to be relocated to the third floor of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) building.
However, sources within the Shariat Court revealed that its judges are unhappy with their abrupt relocation and have raised their concerns before the Chief Justice of Pakistan.
