Geneva, Volker Türk, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, has sharply criticised Pakistan’s recently enacted 27th Constitutional Amendment, describing it as a “hastily adopted” package that “seriously undermines judicial independence” and raises “grave concerns” about military accountability and the rule of law.
In a strongly worded statement issued from Geneva on Friday, Mr Türk said the amendments, signed into law by President Asif Ali Zardari on November 13 only hours after final Senate approval, mirrored the controversial 26th Amendment of 2024 in being rushed through parliament with minimal consultation with the legal profession or civil society.
The most far-reaching change establishes a new Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) that strips the Supreme Court of its historic jurisdiction over constitutional matters, relegating the country’s highest existing court to ordinary civil and criminal cases. The FCC’s initial bench and chief justice have already been appointed directly by the president and prime minister, bypassing established judicial conventions.
“These changes, taken together, risk subjugating the judiciary to political interference and executive control,” Mr Türk warned. He added that neither the executive nor the legislature should be in a position to direct judicial decision-making, and stressed that judicial independence requires robust insulation from political influence.
Separately, the amendment grants lifetime criminal immunity to the president and to the country’s top three military officers when elevated to the ranks of field marshal, marshal of the air force or admiral of the fleet — posts that have rarely exist in peacetime but can be revived by the government of the day.
“Sweeping immunity provisions like these undermine accountability, a cornerstone of the human rights framework and democratic control of the armed forces under the rule of law,” the UN human rights chief said.
The legislation cleared its final parliamentary hurdle when the Senate, in a late on November 13, approved the National Assembly’s amendments by 64 votes to four amid noisy opposition protests and chants of “destruction of the constitution”. The entire process, from introduction to presidential assent, took less than a week.
Domestic critics, including the Pakistan Bar Council and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, have labelled the changes a “flagrant attack” on judicial autonomy and a concentration of unchecked power in the hands of the civilian-executive and military leadership.
International investors and multilateral lenders have closely watched Pakistan’s constitutional developments amid concerns over governance standards and institutional stability, factors that have repeatedly weighed on the country’s sovereign risk profile.
Mr Türk concluded that the amendments “risk far-reaching consequences for the principles of democracy and rule of law which the Pakistani people hold dear”.
The government has defended the reforms as necessary to expedite constitutional litigation and strengthen parliamentary sovereignty. Officials have dismissed foreign criticism as interference in domestic affairs.
