30 research outputs found
Courting Constitutionalism: The Politics of Judicial Review in Pakistan
This thesis presents a deeply contextualized account of law in postcolonial Pakistan and situates the judicial review jurisprudence of the superior courts, in particular their recent activism and populism, in the contexts of historical developments in constitutional politics, evolution of state structures and broader social transformations. It shows how in each epoch of the postcolonial state's history the superior courts positioned themselves within the state and vis a vis the demands that different segments of the society placed upon the state and its institutions. It brings forth evidence that the courts did not define their role in accordance with certain abstract theories of constitutionalism, rule of law and separation of powers that had been deeply imbricated in the postcolonial state's self-justifications. Rather, these courts re-fashioned their role in accordance with fundamental shifts in constitutional politics, state structure and state-society dialectics. In the process, these courts re-cast the theoretical conceptualizations of constitutionalism, rule of law, and separation of powers to better reflect their evolving role and jurisprudence.
A deeper understanding of these phenomena - the evolution of judicial role in response to shifts in socio-political context, and the re-crafting of theoretical frameworks to justify it - will enable us to meaningfully scrutinize the courts' recent jurisprudence and evaluate the judiciary's future role in Pakistan's governance scheme. As such, it will be argued that the courts' role is deeply political in terms of defining the nature and relevant powers of state institutions and the imperatives for their actions. Perhaps the Pakistani situation is unique in this respect, but it might be worthwhile speculating if theory is often an articulation of such deeply contextualized public law jurisprudence elsewhere as well
The Role of Mutual Funds and Non- Banking Financial Companies in Corporate Governance in Pakistan
This paper advances the argument that institutional investors, particularly mutual funds can play a vital role in enhancing corporate governance in emerging economies. Accordingly, regulatory framework need to be structured in a manner that would encourage the growth of the mutual fund industry and enable it to play a proactive role in corporate governance. The paper reviews and evaluates the regulation of mutual funds in Pakistan in the light of the above propositions. The Role of Mutual Funds and Non-Banking Financial Companies in Corporate Governance in Pakistan.Corporate governance, mutual fund, Non-Banking Financial Companies, Pakistan
The Politics of the Rule of Law
Article published in the Michigan State International Law Review
The Chaudhry Court : Deconstructing the Judicialization of Politics in Pakistan
The Supreme Court of Pakistan underwent a remarkable transformation in its institutional role and constitutional position during the tenure of the former Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry (2005â2013). This era in Pakistanâs judicial history was also marked by great controversy as the court faced charges that it had engaged in âjudicial activism,â acted politically, and violated the constitutionally mandated separation of powers between institutions of the state. This article presents an in-depth analysis of the judicial review actions of the Chaudhry Court and argues that the charge of judicial activism is theoretically unsound and analytically obfuscating. The notion of judicial activism is premised on the existence of artificial distinctions between law, politics and policy and fails to provide a framework for adequately analyzing or evaluating the kind of judicial politics Pakistan has recently experienced. The Supreme Courtâs role, like that of any apex court with constitutional and administrative law jurisdiction, has always been deeply and structurally political and will continue to be so in the future. As such, this article focuses on the nature and consequences of the Chaudhry Courtâs judicial politics rather than addressing the issue of whether it indulged in politics at all. It analyzes the underlying causes that enabled the court to exercise an expanded judicial function and in doing so engages with the literature on the âjudicialization of politicsâ around the world
The Politics of the Rule of Law
In March 2009, Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry and several other
deposed judges were restored to the Supreme Court of Pakistan as a
result of a populist movement for the restoration of an independent
judiciary. The Supreme Court of Pakistan has since engaged in judicial
activism that has resulted in a clash between the judiciary and the
elected executive and has brought the distinction between the Rule of
Law and the judicialization of politics into contestation. This Paper
deconstructs the philosophical debates over the meaning and relevance
of the Rule of Law in order to show that the claims to universal
applicability, neutrality and inherent value implicit in the dominant
modes of theorizing about the Rule of Law are hollow. The deeper
concern animating these debates is not the desire to draw hard lines
between âlawâ and âpolitics.â However, abstract Rule of Law
contestations have limited value and relevance, when divorced from the
political, constitutional, and sociological context. Only a sharper
understanding of the nature of the special politics of law and the specific
contexts (of constitutional law, state structure, social, and economic lifeforms) shall enable a better understanding of the ever-increasing
resonance of the Rule of Law, especially in the Global South
Developments in Pakistani Constitutional Law
Since the retirement of the former Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry at the end of 2013, Pakistanâs apex court has progressively looked
to extricate itself from the political limelight