# Cabinet approves military-court trials of civilians after the 9 May 2023 unrest Date: 2023 ## The fact After 9 May 2023 attacks on military installations following [Imran Khan](/people/imran-khan)’s arrest, [Shehbaz Sharif](/people/shehbaz-sharif)’s cabinet approved trying civilians in military courts. Human Rights Watch and Pakistani bars objected. Defendant headcounts are contested and are not supplied as Contribution.size. A later 2025 Supreme Court restoration of Army Act provisions is neighbouring. ## Context Imran Khan is unresolved. He was prime minister until 14 August 2023. 9 May unrest; May cabinet line. Store the cabinet policy as the instrument; date is late May 2023 neighbourhood of the decision. Keep Cabinet approves military-court trials of civilians after the 9 May 2023 unrest on 2023-05-30 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](/organizations/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 Prime Minister’s Office of Pakistan carries the official instrument or communique. Reuters records the same dated act independently. ## Significance The path is [civic space](/drivers/civic-space): a completed decision to try civilians in military courts, not a unique defendant census. ## What is established and what is not Established: A May 2023 cabinet approval of military-court trials of civilians, independently recorded, during his first premiership. Not established: A unique number of civilians tried as Contribution.size, or that he sat as a court-martial judge. 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. The army sought the trials. Parliament and later benches are neighbouring.. A later repeal, court stay, or successor order would be a different Fact with a different date. That pair identifies Cabinet approves military-court trials of civilians after the 9 May 2023 unrest, not a later speech about Cabinet approves military-court trials of civilians after the 9 May 2023 unrest. Co-authors and later implementers named in Context remain on the file. Cabinet approves military-court trials of civilians after the 9 May 2023 unrest on 2023-05-30 is not a licence to treat every later Prime Minister’s Office 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 Cabinet approves military-court trials of civilians after the 9 May 2023 unrest into a personality. The contribution described on this Person row is limited to He chaired cabinet. The army sought the trials. Parliament and later benches are neighbouring. 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 - Civic Space: https://factrail.ai/drivers/civic-space - Shehbaz Sharif dynastic PM (Pakistan): https://factrail.ai/drivers/shehbaz-sharif-dynastic-pm ## Sources - https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/pakistan-approves-military-trials-civilians-over-may-9-riots-2023-05-30/ - https://pmo.gov.pk/ ## Methodology https://factrail.ai/methodology Canonical: https://factrail.ai/facts/pk-shehbaz-military-courts-2023