Seeking Supremacy: The Pursuit of Judicial Power in Pakistan

"Like many other post-colonial states, Pakistan's political system has experienced domination by its military and other political power centres have needed to define their roles vis-à-vis the armed forces. An especially significant institution, and one whose role vis-à-vis the miltary has evolved and changed over time, has been the higher judiciary. On November 3rd, 2007, General Musharraf, Pakistan's fourth military ruler (since 1999), proclaimed a state of emergency in the country and suspended Pakistan's constitution. Musharraf's Proclamation was motivated by a growing confrontation with Pakistan's judiciary and its activist twentieth Chief Justice, Iftikhar Chaudhry. The regime ordered the judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court to take an oath to uphold his new Provisional Constitutional Order, and dismiss any legal challenge to the powers and authority of Musharraf's military regime. Any judges who refused to take this oath were to be immediately removed from judicial service. Yet, in an impressive show of defiance, a majority of the judges refused to take the oath, and suffered removal from office. A picture of Justice Chaudhry being manhandled by security officials soon became an iconic image that galvanized public support for the judiciary in its growing confrontation with the military. As the confrontation between the two institutions escalated, Pakistan's lawyers mobilized across the country, celebrating the judiciary's newfound commitment to socio-economic activism, encouraging its growing assertiveness against the military regime, and resisting efforts by the military to subdue the judiciary"--