Twenty-sixth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan

On 18 October 2024, a proposed draft of the constitutional amendment was approved in the parliamentary special committee. On 19 October it was reported that the draft had been finalised but was debated or voted upon by the National Assembly of Pakistan. Later in the day, the bill was introduced in the Senate of Pakistan by the Minister for Law and Justice Azam Nazeer Tarar. The senate then voted 65-4 to approve the bill, which had 22 clauses, with the required two-thirds majority. == Articles of amendment ==

All articles of the Amendment Act passed unanimous in the Senate, with the exception of Clause 2, with four dissenting votes. Amended/Inserted Clauses Indented • Clause 2 (Insertion of Article 9A [clean and healthy environment]) • Clause 2A (Amendment of Article 38 [Elimination of Riba before January 2028]) • Clause 3 (Amendment to Article 48 [president to act on advice]) • Clause 4 (Amendment to Article 81 [expenditure charged upon Federal Consolidated Fund]) • Clause 5 (Amendment to Article 111 [right to speak in Provincial Assembly]) • Clause 6 (Amendment to Article 175A [Most senior judge of the Constitutional Bench]) • Clause 7 (Amendment to Article 177 [appointment of Supreme Court Judges]) • Clause 8 (Amendment to Article 179 [retiring age]) • Clause 9 (Amendment to Article 184 [Original Jurisdiction of Supreme Court]) • Clause 10 (Amendment to Article 185 [Appellate jurisdiction of Supreme Court]) • Clause 11 (Amendment to Article 186A [power of Supreme Court to transfer cases]) • Clause 12 (Amendment to Article 187 [issue and execution of processes of Supreme Court]) • Clause 13 (Insertion of Article 191A [Constitutional Benches of the Supreme Court]) • Clause 14 (Amendment to Article 193 [Appointment of High Court Judges]) • Clause 15 (Amendment to Article 199 [Jurisdiction of High Court]) in favour: 65; against: 0 • Clause 16 (Insertion of Article 202A [Constitutional Benches of High Courts]) • Clause 16A (Amendment to Article 203C [The Federal Shariat Court]) • Clause 16B (Amendment to Article 203D [Powers, jurisdiction and functions of the Court]) • Clause 17 (Amendment to Article 208 [Officers and servants of Courts]) • Clause 18 (Substitution of Article 209 [Supreme Judicial Council) • Clause 19 (Amendment to Article 215 [Term of office of Commissioner]) • Clause 19A (Amendment to Article 229 [Reference to Islamic Council]) • Clause 19B (Amendment to Article 230 [Functions of the Islamic Council]) • Clause 20 (Amendment to Article 255 [Oath of Office]) • Clause 21 (Amendment to Article 259 [Awards]) • Clause 22 [Amendment to the Fourth Schedule of the Constitution] ==Criticism==

The amendment was criticized by five interviewed lawyers/barristers in Dawn, calling it a "blow to the constitutional order", "politicising the judiciary", and "emasculating the judiciary". However, one of the lawyers acknowledged that the current draft was "more workable" compared to earlier versions, though concerns still remained which required "redressal". PTI alleged that seven of its lawmakers were "abducted" and claimed that the government was trying to pass the amendment "at gunpoint." The amendment has also been criticised for "incongruities or jurisprudential conundrums" concerning the division of the Supreme Court's with the addition of the Constitutional Bench. == See also ==