ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi has once again denied Justice Mansoor Ali Shah permission to attend an international event abroad, refusing to issue a no-objection certificate (NOC) for his participation in the “Global Constitutionalism 2025” conference at Yale Law School.
The conference, scheduled for September 10 to 13, invited Justice Mansoor to present a paper on artificial intelligence and its impact on the judiciary. Yale Law School has been inviting Justice Mansoor to this event for the past five years, where senior judges and esteemed scholars from universities such as Yale, Harvard, and Princeton gather for discussions.
Justice Mansoor had submitted a formal request for the NOC to CJP Afridi on August 6. He followed up with another request on August 15, highlighting the importance of his participation. However, the Supreme Court Registrar’s office responded, informing Yale that the new judicial year had begun on September 8, marked by a full-court session to review the annual programme. The office stated that the participation of all judges in the opening ceremony was crucial for collective deliberation and the setting of institutional priorities, making it impossible to accommodate Justice Mansoor’s attendance.
This is not the first time Justice Mansoor’s request for international participation has been denied. Earlier in February, his request to attend arbitration events in Saudi Arabia was also turned down, forcing him to cancel his trip.
