Ex-CJP seeks review of verdict on military trials of civilians

Tue, June 10, 2025

Former chief justice of Pakistan (CJP) Jawwad S. Khawaja has requested the Supreme Court to revisit the May 7, 2025 judgement on military trials of civilians otherwise the same will serve as a constant reminder of ceding judicial space to executive by accepting that it can act as judges to try civilians in criminal cases.

“This ceding of judicial space will haunt the Supreme Court and our nation,” says a petition moved to seek review of the May 7 judgment by the seven-judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court.

On May 7, a five-judge constitutional bench had restored key provisions of the Pakistan Army Act (PAA) that allow for the trial of civilians in military courts. The court ruled by a 5-2 majority in favour of overturning its earlier decision on Oct 23, 2023, in which the five-judge Supreme Court bench had held the military trial of civilians involved in the May 9, 2023 acts of arson and attacks on the military installations as illegal and unconstitutional.

Except for Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Justice Naeem Akhtar Afghan, who had dissented with the majority judgement, the detailed reasoning of the majority judgement has yet to come.

Senior counsel Khawaja Ahmed Hosain has instituted the review petition on behalf of former CJP with a request to set aside the May 7, 2025 judgement since implementation of the same would mean the entire civilian judicial system would be handed over to the executive.

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