Islamabad: Judicial Commission Rules 2010 were repealed and the Judicial Commission Rules 2024 were made public after approval.
According to the new Judicial Commission Rules, the Commission shall have a Secretariat, which shall be established in the Supreme Court Building, Islamabad or at such place as may be decided by the Chairperson, and its records shall be preserved, Whereas other matters shall be conducted in the manner specified in the general or special orders of the Chairperson.
According to the Rules, merit for appointment as a judge shall be determined in accordance with the oath taken by a judge under the Constitution. Performance, communication skills and integrity will be looked at.
Adequate representation of lawyers and judicial officers shall be ensured for the appointment of judges in the High Courts, seniority may be taken into account along with the prescribed qualifications and criteria, information from the registrar any member other than the concerned Chief Justice for nomination, shall obtain the material to be attached, may call for a report of the service record of the judicial officer from the High Court concerned.
According to the rules, no member other than the Chief Justice concerned shall contact a judicial officer to initiate his nomination. Members for appointment of judges shall ensure adequate diversity in terms of gender, region and religion as per the prescribed criteria. The number of decisions, quality, ethics, integrity, impartiality will be reviewed to confirm additional judges.
The Judicial Commission may also look into matters which did not arise at the time of initial appointment. expected to become vacant within 3 months, the Chairperson shall determine the number of vacancies for appointment to the Supreme Court, and call for nominations.
For appointments to High Courts or Federal Sharia Courts, the Chairperson shall consult with the Chief Justice concerned, any member of the Commission may make nominations to the Commission for appointment when nominations are called for, nominations for appointment to the Supreme Court shall be a fair representation of the High Court concerned. Provided that, nominations for the appointment of Judges to the Supreme Court shall be made from among the 5 most senior Judges of the respective High Courts.
According to the rules, nominations for the appointment of the Chief Justice of the High Court will be made from among the 3 most senior judges. If a member nominates the second or third senior judge, he must explain the reasons in a letter. If the Judge is not appointed by the Chief Justice, the Commission shall give reasons, nominations shall be submitted to the Secretariat within 15 days of the date on which the nominations are called for.
Nominations received after the due date will not be presented to the Commission for consideration, if the Commission decides that one is not suitable for reconsideration, he may be disqualified from re-nomination, reports on the information in the Judicial Commission Secretariat nomination form.
The Commission shall also obtain general background reports of nominees from 2 civil intelligence agencies, the officer shall provide supporting material if the reports contain any adverse comments, the reports obtained shall be considered and Nominations will be submitted for finalization.
According to the Rules, the Secretariat shall prepare two aggregate lists of nominations for the consideration of the Commission, the first list shall consist of the names of lawyers and the second of judicial officers, the quorum for the meeting shall consist of a majority of the total members of the Commission, the Chairperson of the Commission shall ensure All members shall be given an equal opportunity to express their views, after deliberation, voting on nominations shall be by show of hands.
According to the rules, the nominee must receive the votes of a majority of the total membership of the commission, failing which the required majority is not obtained, the commission will hold an additional voting process, all proceedings shall be held in camera to maintain confidentiality until directed. However, the decision of the Commission shall be published in an abbreviated form on the official website or webpage, and the members shall not reveal the content of the discussions held at the Commission meetings.
