Constitutional Role

• Judiciary = 3rd organ of state; interprets Constitution, adjudicates disputes, safeguards fundamental rights (Articles 8-28)
• Structure: Supreme Court → High Courts (5, one per province + Islamabad) → District/subordinate courts; plus Federal Shariat Court, Special courts
• Article 184(3) — SC's suo motu / original jurisdiction on public importance & fundamental rights cases (heavily debated power)
• Judicial review — power to strike down laws/executive acts as unconstitutional (Marbury v. Madison logic, adapted)

Historical Trajectory

• Doctrine of Necessity (Justice Munir, 1954 Maulvi Tamizuddin case) — judiciary validated Governor-General's unconstitutional dissolution of Constituent Assembly; set precedent for legitimizing martial laws (1958, 1977, 1999)
• 2007 Lawyers' Movement — restoration of CJ Iftikhar Chaudhry after Musharraf's suspension; landmark judicial activism/independence moment
• 18th & 19th Amendments (2010) — Judicial Commission for judges' appointments, reducing executive influence
• 26th Amendment (2024) — created parliamentary committee role in CJP appointment (seniority principle diluted), constitutional benches introduced — major recent controversy over judicial independence

Challenges

• Case backlog — over 2 million cases pending nationwide; slow disposal undermines "justice delayed is justice denied"
• Politicization — perception of benches being formed favorably for/against governments; judge-bashing on social media
• Executive-judiciary tension over appointments, contempt powers
• Access to justice — costly litigation, rural areas underserved, weak lower judiciary capacity
• Missing persons/enforced disappearances cases — judiciary's limited enforcement capacity against security establishment

Reforms Needed

• Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) expansion to reduce backlog
• Judicial appointments on merit/seniority with transparent criteria
• Capacity building of subordinate judiciary, digitization of case management