Warns new FCC, expanded immunity and rushed passage threaten rule of law and due process
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, the right to a fair trial and the rule of law”, calling on the authorities to undertake a swift review of the legislation.
In a detailed public statement issued on Tuesday, Amnesty said the amendment poses a “serious threat” to judicial independence by creating a Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) that “lacks independence, erodes judges’ security of office and insulates the president and the heads of the navy, armed forces and air forces from accountability”.
The 27th Constitutional Amendment is a sweeping change to Pakistan’s constitution that restructures the country’s legal and military framework. It establishes a federal constitutional court whose decisions bind all other courts, including the Supreme Court, while giving the executive branch decisive influence over judicial appointments and transfers.
The amendment also rewrites key defense-related provisions, alters the military command structure, and extends constitutional protections and immunity to the president and top military leadership, moves that critics say undermine judicial independence, weaken checks and balances, and concentrate power in the executive branch.
Read: The President signs the 27th Amendment into law
“The twenty-seventh constitutional amendment is the crescendo of a concerted and sustained attack on the independence of the judiciary, the right to due process and the rule of law in Pakistan,” the rights body said.
It called on Pakistani authorities to review the amendment as soon as possible to “ensure that all its provisions are fully consistent 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 implications”.
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 resigned two days later.
The former Chief Justices of the Supreme Court, Justices Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah, resigned after Parliament approved the 27th Constitutional Amendment. In his 13-page resignation letter, Justice Shah described the amendment as a “serious attack on Pakistan’s constitution” and said it had “fragmented the Supreme Court” and undermined its institutional authority.
In a further blow to the judiciary, Lahore High Court Judge Shams Mehmood Mirza also tendered his resignation, allegedly in protest against the passage of the 27th constitutional amendment.
The organization recalled that the amendment was passed within days of being tabled and the draft was published just 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 adopted in October 2024.
It noted that the 26th Amendment changed the composition of the Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) by adding MPs, reducing judges to a minority, a move that “risks politicization” of judicial appointments.
Read more: In Pakistan, even judges are now on trial
The earlier amendment also transferred important 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, without 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 about appointments
Amnesty raised serious concerns about the appointment process for the FCC, noting that the President, on the advice of the Prime Minister, appointed the first Chief Justice and judges of the new court, without the JCP.
“These initial appointments raise concerns regarding direct political interference by the executive branch,” the statement said, adding that future appointments also remain problematic given the current makeup of the JCP.
The organization also criticized changes that allow the president to transfer Supreme Court justices without their consent, warning that transfers could be used as a punitive tool against judges who issue unfavorable rulings.
Amnesty has also flagged changes granting lifetime immunity to the president and extending similar protections to senior military leadership, calling the provisions “far-reaching and absolute”.
“The extension of lifetime immunity violates the principle of equality before the law and the right to an effective remedy,” the organization said, warning that the changes pave the way for “uncontrolled and arbitrary use of force”.
Attack on the 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 from six Islamabad High Court judges detailing alleged intelligence intimidation, 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 Judge Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri in December 2025, which Amnesty said raised serious concerns about due process.
Amnesty called on the Pakistani authorities to “immediately take all appropriate measures to protect the impartiality, independence and security 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.
