Hearing a case related to enhanced pension benefits for a government employee, Justice Qazi Faez Isa turned to a matter of appropriate language for courts and said that courts do not need to be called ‘honourable’.

In his written order, Justice Isa said that attaching the word ‘honourable’ to the Supreme Court or high courts has become a common practice, which sometimes extends to the SC being called ‘Apex’ or even ‘August Court’.

“However, such honorifics or prefixes are not used with other institutions such as Parliament, Senate, National Assembly or the provincial assemblies, which naturally leads one to question the distinction.”

Justice Isa added that the best practice in such cases is to follow the language of the constitution and the only word the constitution uses is ‘Supreme Court’ or ‘High Court’. He also wrote that even in Britain, institutions are not referred to with prefixes.

“Those whose vocation requires proper use of language should strive for accuracy, and for advocates and judges the preference should be to use the language of the Constitution.”

The judge then used dictionary definitions of the word to show that it is not suitable for objects or institutions. However, the judgement adds, the word honourable or learned may be used for judges, albeit sparingly.

“However, it is irksome when these honorifics and Sir are used profusely; which we have invariably found to serve as a substitute for meaningful arguments.”