Chief Justice of Pakistan Yahya Afridi convened the first meeting of the Judicial Commission on November 5 following the 26th Constitutional Amendment that changed the body’s formation.

As the head of the commission, CJP Afridi would preside over the meeting.

Attendants would include justices Mansoor Ali Shah, Munib Akhtar, and Ameen Uddin. Attorney General for Pakistan Mansoor Usman Awan, Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, Pakistan Bar Council representative Akhtar Hussain, PPP Senator Farooq H Naek, PML-N’s Sheikh Aftab Ahmed, PTI’s Omar Ayub and Shibli Faraz, as well as female member Roshan Khurshid, are also expected to participate.

The government narrowly passed constitutional amendments on October 21 giving lawmakers more power to appoint top judges, who have issued a series of recent decisions favouring opposition chief Imran Khan.

Earlier in the day, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq nominated five members for the formation of a JCP for the appointment of judges in the higher judiciary. He wrote a letter to the Supreme Judicial Commission regarding forming a judicial commission to appoint judges in the higher judiciary.

According to the 26th Amendment, five members of Parliament are to be included in the judicial commission.

The nomination of names from Parliament is on the basis of equal representation from both the government and the opposition. The Supreme Court has received all nominations.

Sadiq forwarded names after consulting Senate Chairman Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani and all the parliamentary parties. The female member, Roshan Khursheed Bharucha, of the commission hails from Balochistan and is a former senator.

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These nominations were made by the Speaker of the National Assembly as per sub-paragraph (viii) of clause (2) of Article 175A of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, which permits the Speaker NA to nominate a woman or a non-Muslim to the Judicial Commission.

“The new face of JCP will have CJP, four senior-most SC judges, four parliamentarians – two each from Senate and the National Assembly [one each from treasury and opposition], law minister, and the AGP. NA speaker will nominate people from marginalised communities outside of parliament. Those who are qualified as technocrats for the Senate. The civil society has been made part of it. The PBC is already part of it,” Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar said when the cabinet approved the amendment on October 20.