SJC allows judges to attend political, diplomatic functions with prior approval

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), which approved amendments to the Code of Conduct for judges in its June 11 meeting, decided to allow judges of the superior courts to attend or preside over political or diplomatic functions after obtaining prior permission from the relevant chief justices. Presided over by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Yahya Afridi, the June 11 SJC meeting decided to make certain amendments to the Code of Conduct for judges while considering the draft Rules Regulating Procedure and Conduct of Business of the Council. The SJC meeting was also attended by Chief Justice Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) Justice Aminuddin as well as the chief justices of Lahore and Peshawar high courts. According to an official announcement issued here on Saturday, one of the amendments made to the code provides that judges of the superior courts shall abstain from attending or presiding over any political or diplomatic functions, except with the permission of the relevant chief justices. Earlier, Article XII of the Code of Conduct had imposed a complete ban on judges of the superior courts from attending or presiding over any social, cultural, political or diplomatic functions. Likewise, in the definition of “superior court”, the newly established FCC has also been included, as a result of which the title of the Code of Conduct will now read: “Code of Conduct for Judges of the Federal Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court and the High Courts.” Earlier, the FCC was not included in the title. Similarly, amendments have also been made in Article XV, which requires the judges to decide cases before them on merit alone, possess moral integrity and intellectual capacity to resist internal or external influence, and, where legal powers are lacking, seek an immediate institutional response. “Judges must promptly inform, in writing, the CJP and the four most senior Supreme Court judges (via the registrar) of any such attempts (to influence); high court judges