# Parliament passes the 26th Amendment; ICJ calls it a blow to judicial independence

Date: 2024

## The fact

On 20–21 October 2024 Pakistan’s Senate then [National Assembly](/organizations/national-assembly) passed the 26th Constitutional Amendment, letting a parliamentary committee pick the chief justice from the three most senior judges and recasting the Judicial Commission. [Shehbaz Sharif](/people/shehbaz-sharif)’s cabinet had approved the bill; he called it parliamentary supremacy. The president assented the same day. The International Commission of Jurists called it a blow to [judicial independence](/drivers/justice-judicial-independence-erosion). Drafts were kept secret; opponents alleged intimidation of MPs.

## Context

[Asif Ali Zardari](/people/asif-ali-zardari)’s assent is neighbouring and is not minted here.

Cabinet 20 October; Senate that evening; NA predawn 21 October; Gazette the same day. Store 21 October as the completing date. Keep Parliament passes the 26th Amendment; ICJ calls it a blow to judicial independence on 2024-10-21 separate from neighbouring 11 April 2022 PM election, May 2023 military-court line, 3–4 March 2024 return, and 21 October 2024 26th Amendment.

Pakistan’s prime minister is elected by the National Assembly and chairs cabinet. He can advise a constitutional amendment and a military-court policy. He does not write IMF Executive Board minutes, GHQ operational orders, or a completed judgment that 2024 was stolen. February 2024 polling-day shutdown was under a caretaker and is not stored here as his PM Contribution.

## Evidence and sources

National Assembly of Pakistan carries the official instrument or communique. International Commission of Jurists records the same dated act independently.

## Significance

The path is judicial-independence erosion: a completed constitutional rewrite of how the chief justice is picked.

## What is established and what is not

Established: A 21 October 2024 gazetted 26th Amendment, independently recorded; ICJ issued a same-day assessment.

Not established: That every later bench is packed, or a unique intimidation-of-MPs integer as Contribution.size.

What would change the picture: a contradictory original with a different date or name, a later repeal, a court that vacated the instrument, or a measured series that can be argued, with lag and alternatives, as a consequence of this instrument rather than of later institutions.

The date is the date of this instrument, not a licence to back-date every later harm or benefit.

Parliament passed. The president assented. GHQ’s neighbouring weight is not converted into sole authorship.. A later repeal, court stay, or successor order would be a different Fact with a different date. That pair identifies Parliament passes the 26th Amendment; ICJ calls it a blow to judicial independence, not a later speech about Parliament passes the 26th Amendment; ICJ calls it a blow to judicial independence.

Co-authors and later implementers named in Context remain on the file. Parliament passes the 26th Amendment; ICJ calls it a blow to judicial independence on 2024-10-21 is not a licence to treat every later National Assembly of Pakistan communique as this same act. If a later repeal, stay, or successor instrument exists, it needs its own date and its own row. This dossier refuses to average Parliament passes the 26th Amendment; ICJ calls it a blow to judicial independence into a personality. The contribution described on this Person row is limited to He chaired cabinet approval and sent advice for assent. Parliament passed. The president assented. GHQ’s neighbouring weight is not converted into sole authorship. That limit is the alternative to treating office-holding as authorship of every later series.

## People

- Shehbaz Sharif: https://factrail.ai/people/shehbaz-sharif

## Drivers

- Shehbaz Sharif dynastic PM (Pakistan): https://factrail.ai/drivers/shehbaz-sharif-dynastic-pm
- Judicial independence erosion (court capture): https://factrail.ai/drivers/justice-judicial-independence-erosion

## Sources

- https://www.icj.org/pakistan-26th-constitutional-amendment-is-a-blow-to-the-independence-of-the-judiciary/
- https://na.gov.pk/

## Methodology

https://factrail.ai/methodology

Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/pk-shehbaz-26th-amendment-2024