Constitutional Amendment Bill became law following President Zardari’s assent

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday gave assent to the 26th Constitutional Amendment Bill into law after the said legislation sailed through both houses of Parliament.

A gazette notification has been issued following the president’s assent and the Act is hereby enacted into the Constitution of Pakistan, coming into force at once.

The gazette notification stated, ” The following Act of Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) received the assent of the President on the 21st October 2024, is hereby published for general information.”

Earlier, the ruling coalition succeeded in a days-long push to pass the amendments through the Parliament focusing on judicial reforms. The govt-backed package got 65 votes in favor to grab a two-thirds majority in the Senate.

In the lower house, a total of 225 lawmakers cast their in favor, while 12 legislators voted against it.

Treasury benches secured support from JUI-F’s eight members while six independent and PTI-backed candidates — Usman Ali, Aurangzeb Khichi, Mubarak Zeb, and Zahoor Qureshi — voted in favor of amendments along with PML-Q’s Chaudhry Ilyas.

Earlier, following the late-night parliamentary procedures, the Prime Minister sent his advice to President Asif Ali Zardari for his assent on the newly enacted Constitution (Twenty-Sixth Amendment) Act, 2024, which contains 27 clauses.

With the president’s assent today, the Constitutional Amendment Bill 2024 has now become an Act of the parliament which be followed by the formation of a special parliamentary committee — responsible for the appointment of the new CJP under clause 3 of Article 175A of the Constitution.

Incumbent CJP Qazi Faez Isa, who is set to retire on October 25, will send the names of three senior judges to the committee under sub-clause 3 of Article 175A. The committee will appoint the next CJP and will send the name to the PM who will then forward it to the president.

Key amendments

• The term for the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) has been set at three years
• The Judicial Commission of Pakistan, led by the Chief Justice and others will oversee judicial appointments
• Complete eradication of Rriba (interest) from the country by January 1, 2028.

The amendment also included provisions for establishing constitutional benches in the Supreme Court and high courts, with equal representation from all provinces.

The constitutional Benches would comprise an equal number of judges from each province. The most senior judge nominated under clause (1) shall be the presiding judge of the constitutional benches in this part referred to as the presiding judge.

No bench of the Supreme Court other than a Constitutional Bench shall exercise the following jurisdictions vested in the Supreme Court, the bill added.

The amendment also included provisions related to the Supreme Judicial Council’s composition, consisting of the Chief Justice of Pakistan the two most senior judges of the Supreme Court, and two mist chief justices of High Courts.