Amnesty International states that the Twenty-seventh amendment to the Constitution poses a grave threat to the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law in Pakistan by creating a Federal Constitutional Court that lacks independence, erodes judges’ security of tenure of and insulates the president and heads of the naval, armed and air forces from accountability. Amnesty International calls for an urgent review of the twenty-seventh constitutional amendment and to ensure that all its provisions fully comply with Pakistan’s international human rights law obligations and commitments. The authorities must immediately take all appropriate measures to safeguard the impartiality, independence and safety of judges, ensuring that they can carry out their judicial functions without any inappropriate or unwarranted interference and any restrictions, improper influences, pressures and threats, direct or indirect, from any quarter or for any reason.
