The Commission invited nominations to fill three vacancies in the IHC and five in the BHC
ISLAMABAD:
In what appears to be the first exercise of its kind since its establishment, the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) has begun conducting interviews of candidates nominated for appointment as judges of the superior courts.
A seven-member JCP committee, headed by Justice Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi, on Monday interviewed 27 candidates for appointment as additional judges in Islamabad High Court (IHC) and Balochistan High Court (BHC).
The commission had invited nominations to fill three vacancies in IHC and five in BHC.
A total of 20 nominees were proposed for the BHC and seven for the IHC by members of the Judicial Commission.
The seven-member committee interviewed all candidates and finalized its recommendations for each nominee.
The committee spent approximately 15 to 20 minutes interviewing each candidate. Each committee member shared their assessment of each candidate before a final decision was made by majority vote.
It is learned that there is an understanding among JCP members that candidates under the age of 45 are unlikely to be approved for appointment as judges. However, there is no constitutional obstacle preventing a lawyer under the age of 45 from being appointed as a county judge.
One of the candidates said so Express Pakinomist that the committee asked questions about reported convictions linked to his performance.
Two nominees said the committee asked them why they wanted to become superior court judges.
Sources said Express Pakinomist that the committee concluded that some candidates did not meet the required standard for the appointment of judges.
However, a majority of the candidates proposed by the two Chief Justices were found suitable for appointment.
A senior lawyer said there was a need to evaluate the candidates’ independence, integrity and courage, adding that the prevailing circumstances required judicial candidates to be sensitive to civil liberties issues.
“If judges are to be appointed to constitutional courts in Pakistan, they must be fearlessly independent and competent. To achieve that, one must headhunt and persuade them to join the judiciary,” he said.
Before the enactment of the 26th Constitutional Amendment, the Parliamentary Committee on Judicial Appointments used to conduct interviews of candidates for the superior courts.
It is the first time that representatives of all stakeholders – the judiciary, the executive and the legislature – have sat together to interview candidates for judicial appointments.
The committee is scheduled to interview candidates nominated for judicial posts in the Sindh High Court today (Tuesday).
