PARLIAMENTARY SUPREMACY VERSUS JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE: AN ANALYSIS OF 26TH CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

The 26th Constitutional Amendment has spurred an uproar amongst the masses and legal fraternity, few praising it while others criticizing. It has been stated that this amendment is direct attack on the independence of judiciary by the current parliamentarians. Whereas, another view entails that the Parliament has restored its supremacy through this much needed amendment, which was taken away by the hyper-active, wild and unbound judiciary exercising its political and ulterior wishes on the pretext of original powers and suo motu, in the guise of protecting the fundamental rights of the people and ensuring constitutional norms and rule of law. In the above debate, the real vires of 26th amendment have been lost. This article is an attempt to explain the 26th constitutional amendment as it is and also to delve into the parliamentary supremacy and judicial independence debate, to be termed as, sovereignty-independence debate in pure Pakistani context. At the end a critical analysis of the current amendment is provided with few recommendations for the future line of action.