Warns new FCC, expanded immunity and rushed passage threaten rule of law and fair trial rights
National Assembly. Photo: File
Amnesty International has said that Pakistan’s 27th Constitutional Amendment was part of a “concerted and sustained attack on the independence of the judiciary, right to fair trial and the rule of law”, urging authorities to conduct an urgent review of the legislation.
In a detailed public statement issued on Tuesday, Amnesty said the amendment posed a “grave threat” to judicial independence by creating a Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) that “lacks independence, erodes judges’ security of tenure and insulates the president and heads of the naval, armed and air forces from accountability”.
The 27th Constitutional Amendment is a sweeping change to Pakistan’s Constitution that restructures the country’s judicial and military framework. It establishes a Federal Constitutional Court whose decisions bind all other courts, including the Supreme Court, while granting the executive decisive influence over judicial appointments and transfers.
The amendment also rewrites key defence-related provisions, alters the military command structure, and extends constitutional protection and immunity to the president and senior military leadership, moves that critics say undermine judicial independence, weaken checks and balances, and concentrate power in the executive.
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“The twenty-seventh constitutional amendment is the crescendo of a concerted and sustained attack on the independence of the judiciary, right to fair trial and the rule of law in Pakistan,” the rights body said.
It called on Pakistani authorities to urgently review the amendment to “ensure that all its provisions fully comply with Pakistan’s international human rights law obligations and commitments”.
Amnesty said the amendment was “steamrolled through parliament” without consultation with civil society, the legal fraternity or opposition parties, despite its “far-reaching consequences”.
On the day the amendment became law, two senior Supreme Court judges resigned in protest, Amnesty noted, adding that a Lahore High Court judge also stepped down two days later.
The former senior-most Supreme Court judges, Justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah, resigned following Parliament’s approval of the 27th Constitutional Amendment. In his 13-page resignation letter, Justice Shah described the amendment as a “serious attack on the Constitution of Pakistan”, saying it had “fragmented the Supreme Court” and undermined its institutional authority.
In a further blow to the judiciary, Lahore High Court Justice Shams Mehmood Mirza also tendered his resignation, reportedly in protest against the passage of the 27th Constitutional Amendment.
The organisation recalled that the amendment was passed within days of being tabled, with the draft made public only hours before it was presented in the Senate.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk had described the amendment as “hastily adopted” and lacking “broad consultation and debate with the legal community and wider civil society”, it said.
Amnesty said the 27th Amendment further weakened judicial independence already “significantly eroded” by the 26th Constitutional Amendment passed in October 2024.
It noted that the 26th Amendment altered the composition of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) by adding members of parliament, reducing judges to a minority, a move that “risks politicisation” of judicial appointments.
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The earlier amendment also transferred key constitutional powers from the Supreme Court to newly created constitutional benches, which were later abolished under the 27th Amendment and replaced by the FCC.
“The Federal Constitutional Court now binds all other courts, including the Supreme Court, while not being bound by any past or present judgments of the Supreme Court,” Amnesty said, warning that this could create confusion, delays and inconsistent constitutional interpretation.
Concerns over appointments
Amnesty raised serious concerns over the appointment process of the FCC, noting that the president, on the advice of the prime minister, appointed the first chief justice and judges of the new court, bypassing the JCP.
“These initial appointments raise concerns regarding direct political interference by the executive branch,” the statement said, adding that future appointments also remained problematic given the current composition of the JCP.
The organisation also criticised amendments allowing the president to transfer high court judges without their consent, warning that transfers could be used as a punitive tool against judges issuing unfavourable rulings.
Amnesty also flagged changes granting lifetime immunity to the president and extending similar protections to senior military leadership, calling the provisions “wide-ranging and absolute”.
“The extension of lifetime immunity violates the principle of equality before the law and the right to an effective remedy,” the organisation said, warning that the changes pave the way for “unchecked and arbitrary use of power”.
Attacks on judiciary
The rights body placed the constitutional changes in the context of what it described as increasing attacks on the judiciary over the past two years.
It recalled a March 2024 open letter by six Islamabad High Court judges detailing alleged intimidation by intelligence agencies, surveillance, and threats linked to politically sensitive cases, particularly those involving former prime minister Imran Khan.
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Amnesty also cited threats against judges, online smear campaigns, anonymous complaints, and the removal of Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri in December 2025, which it said raised serious due process concerns.
Amnesty urged Pakistani authorities to “immediately take all appropriate measures to safeguard the impartiality, independence and safety of judges”.
“The authorities must uphold their international human rights obligations, ensure access to justice and effective remedies for victims, and respect the separation of powers and the rule of law,” the statement read.
