Thread by @reema_omer

A snapshot into the human rights jurisprudence of Pakistan’s new Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed:

1. He was one of the judges who legitimised the 21st amendment, and held trial of civilians for terrorism by military courts did not violate right to fair trial or judicial independence

2. In the 18/19 amendment case, he was one of the judges who held Parliament’s powers to amend the constitution was subject to “implied limitations”, and that SC had power to strike down constitutional amendments if they substantively altered the constitution’s “salient features”

3. He was a dissenting judge (along with J. Khosa) in Panama case. He took a very expansive view of SC’s 184(3) powers and disqualified Nawaz Sharif for not being sadiq and ameen because of his failure to “satisfy the court and the nation” about the facts related to London flats

4. He authored the judgment convicting Talal Ch. of contempt of court for “scandalising the court” and bringing it into “hatred, ridicule and contempt” in two speeches

According to him, Talal Ch. made the speeches to show his “unfaltering allegiance” to Nawaz Sharif

5. He was one of the judges who decided the Adiala 11 case. The mild judgment allowed detainees visitation rights, but fell short of making any findings into death, torture, or disappearance, incl. how they had been taken from Adiala jail to an internment center in former FATA

6. He was one of the three judges, along with former CJ Chaudhry and J. Azmat Saeed, who decided the Reko Diq case

The SC declared the foundational agreements governing the exploration of Reko Diq were contrary to law and public policy and therefore void