Bait-and-switch in Pakistan

Remember that case in which a constitutional bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan upheld (5-2) military trials of civilians despite the absence of a constitutional amendment -- on condition that the government provide a right of independent appellate review. The majority in Shuhada Forum, Balochistan v. Justice (R) Jawwad S. Khawaja, 2025 SCP 165, afforded the government 45 days in which to institute that remedy.

Guess what? Nothing has been done. This article from The Express Tribune tells the depressing tale. Excerpt:

Barrister Asad Rahim Khan argued that even the limited appellate safeguard was insufficient from the outset.

"Even as far as sops went, however, this one too was withheld. After all, the decision's main consequence was not to provide an additional floor of appeal. It was to validate military tribunals of civilians outside a declared state of exception, and outside a constitutional amendment – the first time in our history," he noted.

He further stated that implementation of even these limited safeguards had been further complicated by the creation of the FCC, which he described as an aberration within a common law system that has weakened binding precedent.

Barrister Sameer Khosa said the judgment of the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court required the federal government to provide an appeal to the convicts, but the government has not even pretended to offer one.

Barrister Rida Hosain, who assisted one of the petitioners challenging military trials, says that the Supreme Court accepted that there was no independent right to appeal under the Army Act. Under the military law, the right to appeal lies to a court of appeal consisting of the Chief of Army Staff or one or more officers designated by him. The appellate forum is composed of serving military officers who remain subject to the same command structure. An appeal, within the military structure, is an appeal to a hierarchy that has an institutional interest in defending its own processes. 

"Despite a time-bound directive, the Government has failed to take steps to initiate legislation. Those convicted by military courts are left without access to an independent appellate forum. The consequences of inaction are stark. Civilians have been deprived of their liberty by military courts without any independent appeal. The failure to legislate destroys the constitutional promise of due process and protection against wrongful deprivation of liberty. It places citizens at the mercy of a system that is structurally incapable of independent appeal. The government’s inaction reflects its sheer disregard for judicial orders", she adds.