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Ousted Pakistan chief justice claims continued constitutional authority

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

[JURIST] Ousted Pakistani Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry declared Saturday that he is still the chief justice of the country's Supreme Court under Pakistan's constitution. Chaudhry made the statement during a lawyers' convention in Lahore organized by the Punjab Bar Council. Addressing attendees, he maintained his position that the removal of himself and other judges following the November 2007 declaration of emergency rule by then-Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf had been constitutionally invalid. He also criticized some members of the country's current judiciary for allowing his removal to stand even though they had invalidated other actions taken by Musharraf during the emergency. In December, the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) voted down a challenge to the constitutionality of current Pakistan chief justice Abdul Hameed Dogar's appointment. The challenges to Dogar were introduced by recently-elected president of the Pakistan Supreme Court Bar Association Ali Ahmad Kurd, who has taken up the charge to reinstate Chaudhry as the "constitutional" chief justice of Pakistan. In November, members of the Pakistan lawyers' movement renewed their demands for the reinstatement of all superior court judges dismissed by Musharraf's emergency rule. Although Pakistani officials have now reinstated most of the over 60 judges ousted by Musharraf, law minister Farooq Naek has repeatedly insisted that Chaudhry will not be reinstated because Dogar was legitimately appointed.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on January 25, 2009 (boomark / email).