The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) of Pakistan on Thursday decided to introduce certain amendments to the Code of Conduct for Judges while considering a range of institutional and administrative matters during a meeting held at the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
The meeting was chaired by Chief Justice of Pakistan Justice Yahya Afridi in his capacity as Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council. It was attended by Chief Justice of the Federal Constitutional Court Justice Amin-ud-Din Khan, Supreme Court judges Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail, Federal Constitutional Court judge Justice Syed Hasan Azhar Rizvi, and Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court Justice Aalia Neelum. Chief Justice of the Peshawar High Court Justice S.M. Attique Shah participated as a substituted member.
The Council also discussed the proposed draft Rules Regulating Procedure and Conduct of Business of the Council. However, the matter was deferred for further deliberations.
In what was described as a demonstration of institutional accountability and transparency, the Council took up matters relating to some of its own members. For that purpose, meetings were held in different compositions in accordance with relevant constitutional provisions.
The reconstituted Council included Supreme Court judges Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Ayesha A. Malik, along with Federal Constitutional Court judges Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Ali Baqar Najafi as substituted members.
During the proceedings, the Council considered ten matters under Article 209 of the Constitution and disposed of all business included in the agenda.
The meeting concluded after reviewing judicial accountability matters and deliberating on reforms aimed at strengthening the Council’s regulatory framework and institutional functioning.
JCP defers key decisions on judges’ appointments, performance evaluation rules
The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) on Thursday decided to defer consideration of several key matters relating to judicial appointments, performance evaluation and constitutional benches, and resolved to place them before a broader meeting of the Commission next week.
The meeting was held at the Conference Room of the Supreme Court Building in Islamabad and considered a number of important agenda items concerning the judicial framework and appointment process.
Among the matters discussed were the proposed Interviews of Judges Appointment Rules, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (Judicial Performance Evaluation of High Court Judges) Rules, 2026, and proposed amendments to the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (Appointment of Judges) Rules, 2024.
The Commission also took up the issue of the criterion for nominating judges to constitutional benches, which had previously been referred back by a committee for a decision by the Commission.
After deliberations, it was decided that all agenda items would be placed before the next meeting of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan, which will include the commissions of all high courts. The meeting is scheduled to be held next week, where the Commission is expected to consider and decide the pending matters relating to judicial appointments, evaluation mechanisms and the composition of constitutional benches.