- The judicial policy-making committee, comprising judicial top brass, deliberates on key policy issues
- Taking ‘serious notice of enforced disappearances,’ committee unanimously resolves that judiciary ‘would not compromise on its constitutional duty to safeguard fundamental rights’
ISLAMABAD: The National Judicial Policy Making Committee (NJPMC), convened on Friday under chairmanship of Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi, constituted a “dedicated committee” to devise an “institutional response” to the emotive and chronic issue of enforced disappearances in the country.
According to a press release issued from the Supreme Court after the meeting, the committee’s 53rd meeting, held with Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi in the chair, was attended by the high court chief justices, as well as Additional Attorney General for Pakistan (AGP) Mansoor Awan.
The members deliberated on “key policy issues and adopted several significant measures to improve judicial performance, technology integration in judicial processes, and citizen-centric justice delivery.”
Among those measures was taking “serious notice of the enforced disappearances” and unanimously resolving that the judiciary “would not compromise on its constitutional duty to safeguard fundamental rights.”
The statement said a dedicated committee was constituted to formulate an institutional response, after taking into consideration the concerns of the executive, to be communicated through AGP Awan.
The detailed decisions of the meeting said, “The NJPMC strongly condemned enforced disappearances and unanimously resolved that the judiciary will neither compromise on its constitutional mandate nor shall it fall prey to expediencies when it comes to safeguarding fundamental liberties, particularly in matters as grave as enforced disappearances.”
The committee constituted to devise the institutional response would include the director general and senior director (academics) of the Federal Judicial Academy, and the secretary of the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan (LJCP).
AGP Awam would communicate all concerns of the government to the committee with plausible legal options for consideration and review, after which the committee would submit its report to the NJPMC within 30 days.
A total of 125 missing persons cases were submitted to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances in the first half of 2025, it emerged on Wednesday.
The commission was set up in 2011 to trace missing persons and fix responsibility on the individuals or organisations responsible for their disappearance.
In the month of June alone, a total of 27 missing persons cases were received nationwide, while 33 cases were disposed of.
The commission offered a monthly breakdown of the cases received and disposed of: 26 cases were received in January and 209 disposed of; 12 new cases in February and 104 disposed of; 30 were received in March and 34 disposed of; 11 were reported in April and 42 disposed of; 19 were received in May and 62 disposed of.
The total number of cases received up till June 2025 was 10,592, while 1,914 cases of them were disposed of and 6,786 were traced, the commission said.
A total of 4,771 missing persons have returned home, according to the report, while 1,017 people are being held in internment centers and 705 in prisons.
Tackling external influence
Regarding the issue of external influence in the judiciary, the press release said, “The committee also decided to protect judicial officers from external influence and asked the high courts to establish structured mechanisms for reporting and redressal of such instances within a stipulated timeframe.”
The detailed decisions that are on the agenda item of “institutional response to extraneous influence on judges of district judiciary” are that the NJPMC “unanimously decided that there must be some reporting and redressal mechanism in place for judicial officers against external influence by executive functionaries/organizations.”
It was decided that the high courts would develop a reporting and redressal mechanism in this regard, within 30 days, under intimation to LJCP.
The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) is expected to meet on July 12 to consider a number of pending issues. It is also expected to resume consideration of a letter by six judges alleging interference by intelligence agencies in judicial affairs and calling for a thorough investigation. The letter was sent by six judges of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on March 25, 2024.
