Bill seeks ban on appointment of judges holding dual nationality

ISLAMABAD: A Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Member of the National Assembly (MNA), Noor Alam Khan, has proposed a constitutional amendment to ban the appointment of dual national judges in the higher and top courts.

A Constitutional (Amendment) Bill, 2024, has been submitted to the NA Secretariat by the JUI-F lawmaker, which sought modifications in the Constitution’s Articles 177, 193 and 208, shutting all legal routes to the appointments of those judges who have foreign nationalities.

The draft bill clearly stated that a dual national individual shall not be appointed as a Supreme Court (SC) or a high court (HC) judge.

It also sought to block the passage to the appointments of foreign nationals as judiciary officers and servants as well.

Raising objections over “foreign national” jurists, MNA Noor stated in the draft bill: “Judges of high courts and [the] Supreme Court must have their stakes in the country in which they hold [the] position of authority, privileged trustworthy.”

It also read: “Those who hold dual nationality of foreign states, putting at stake the interest of the country of their origin.”

Urging the legislature to promulgate the proposed law, the JUI-F lawmaker said that there is a need to ensure the loyalty of the judges in the light of Article 5 of the Constitution, and his proposed amendments will achieve aforesaid objectives.

Geo News obtained copies of the proposed constitutional amendments in which MNA Noor suggested changes in different clauses of the previous law reading “holds dual nationality or citizenship of any foreign country”. He suggested replacing “or” with “and” in the aforementioned paragraph.