The Federal Constitutional Court moves to the Shariat Court building in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD:

The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC), established under the 27th Constitutional Amendment, has formally shifted to the Federal Shariat Court (FSC) building in Islamabad, officials said on Monday.

Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan inaugurated the new premises along with other judges.

Three benches of the FCC have already started hearing cases at the FSC building, including a three-member bench headed by the chief justice that hears super tax cases. Federal Minister for Law Azam Nazeer Tarar and Minister for Justice Mansoor Usman Awan also attended the inauguration.

The renovation work on the FSC building, which had been going on for several weeks, has now been completed. With the move of the FCC, the Federal Shariat Court will now operate from the Islamabad High Court (IHC) building.

The FCC had started functioning on November 18 from temporary arrangements at the IHC. More than 45 days after its formation, the court has now moved to its permanent location. An announcement issued on December 11 had confirmed that the FCC would operate from the FSC building, while the FSC would move to the IHC.

The event was part of the original plan for the newly formed Constitutional Court, but the move was delayed due to objections raised by judges of the Federal Sharia Court. During the interim period, several FCC judges, including Chief Justice Khan, continued to work from chambers in the Supreme Court building.

Read: Newly created FCC faces logistical problems

Despite settling into permanent premises, the FCC continues to face logistical hurdles, particularly staff shortages. The Supreme Court has approved the transfer of only 20 civil servants to support the functioning of the court. In addition, 40 judicial officers have been transferred from the Punjab judiciary and some retired officers of the Supreme Court have been inducted.

Of the total of 56,608 cases, 22,910 have been transferred to the FCC from the Supreme Court. Legal experts say handling such a large caseload requires a commensurate increase in staff, which is currently lacking. Observers have also noted that the number of new cases in the FCC is higher than that of the Supreme Court.