Yousaf Amanat & Associates | View firm profile
What are the 26th Constitutional Amendments and what they mean for investors and multinationals working in Pakistan, absolutely nothing!! Well not directly that is.
In a nut shell this is a legislation for taking away the dictatorial powers of the judges which of late had to an extent hampered economic and political stability in Pakistan.
The 26th Constitutional Amendment Bill, also known as the Constitutional Package, is legislation aimed at taking away the Supreme Court’s suo motu powers, setting the chief justice of Pakistan’s (CJP) term at three years, and empowering the prime minister to appoint the next CJP from among the three most senior SC judges.
The way the amendments should impact a private investor is that it gives investors confidence who used to fear that their investment would end up being the target of an overtly ambitious Chief Justice.
The term of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court has been fixed for 03 years.
Constitutional benches have been formed within the Supreme Court and the High Courts and so both these courts will have no excuses for ignoring hearing regular matters which again is good news in the sense that there will be no delays for companies involved in litigations.
A commission will be formed under the amendments to oversee the working of judges both of the High Courts and Supreme Court.
For long Pakistan’s top courts have been misused. These amendments will go a long way in ensuring investor confidence and even political stability.