Constitutional package: Law minister seeks lawyers input on changing judges retirement age

• Publicised constitutional package just draft recommendations: Tarar.
• Says amendments part of PML-N, PPP's "Charter of Democracy".
• Constitutional court's impacts on judiciary should be analysed: Naek.

ISLAMABAD: Addressing a crucial session of the country's legal fraternity to discuss contentious constitutional amendments proposed by the coalition government, Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar on Wednesday sought recommendations from lawyers to decide on the retirement age of judges whether it should be 65 or 68 years.

The federal minister was addressing the lawyers following in-camera session of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) and the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) to brief and review the proposed constitutional changes that have become a challenge for the coalition government to pass them in parliament as it lacked two-thirds majority. 

The amendments allegedly include legislation to extend the tenure of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa — who is retiring in October this year — as well as the retirement age of the judges.

Today's event was attended by office-bearers of the lawyers' bodies, including SCBA President Shahzad Shaukat, PBC Vice Chairman Farooq H Naek, Law Minister Tarar, and senior lawyers.

"The constitutional amendments' package, which is circulating everywhere, is just a draft consisting of a set of recommendations," said Tarar while addressing the event, "[...] it cannot be called a government bill unless it is approved by the cabinet."

"There should be a constitutional court in which we see the glimpse of the federation," he further said.

He detailed that a constitutional amendment is presented in parliament after its approval from the cabinet and it needs approval from a two-thirds majority of parliament.

He clarified that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was not solely ruling the country as "we are part of a coalition government".

Tarar said that the "constitutional package" was part of the "Charter of Democracy" signed by the ruling PML-N and its major ally, the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in 2006 which also recommended bringing judicial reforms.

He detailed that discussions were held with the PPP from January to March over the judiciary-centric reforms via introducing constitutional amendments as per the ally party's push to "complete the agenda of the Charter of Democracy".

"Our judiciary has a history as it faces criticism and stands up for the rights," said Tarar. He urged lawyers to form committees and forward recommendations to the government to fix the retirement age of the jurists.

Defending the government's move, the law minister assured: "Federation's units will be given representation in the proposed constitutional amendments."

He also advocated the establishment of a separate constitutional court in the country as "this model was adopted by several countries across the globe".

'Constitutional courts working in Western democracies'

During his speech, the SCBA president complained that the government should have consulted the lawyers' organisations before finalising the constitutional package. To this, Tarar replied that he has "already divulged four important points included in the judicial package".

PBC Vice Chairman Naek, speaking at the event, said that the Constitution could be amended based on public aspirations.

He said that constitutional courts were working in all Western democracies, whereas, the model was also recognised in Russia, Thailand and Indonesia.

The senior lawyer, however, urged the legal fraternity to look into the impacts of the constitutional court's model and whether it is affecting the independent judiciary or not.

He urged the lawyers' bodies — PBC and SCBA — to jointly envisage recommendations for the constitutional court besides proposing its composition and procedure for judges' appointments.

Two days ago, the government had confirmed that the amendments were "postponed indefinitely" after Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman didn't concede to the government's strenuous efforts to support the new legislation.

Moreover, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which has strongly opposed the constitutional package termed it an individual-specific legislation.

To pass the constitutional amendments, the government is short of 13 votes in the National Assembly and nine in the Senate.

Opposition parties — PTI and JUI-F — have criticised the government for being secretive about the content of the constitutional amendments, arguing that the original draft should be presented in parliament for debate before approval.