Senate panel okays bar councils bill with fixed poll dates, stricter eligibility

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice on Thursday unanimously passed significant amendments to the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils (Amendment) Bill, 2025, aimed at strengthening the credibility, transparency and operational timelines of bar councils across Pakistan.

After a detailed clause-by-clause review in a meeting chaired by Senator Farooq Hameed Naek, the committee approved the bill with amendments. Under the new provisions, the elections for Bar councils will now mandatorily be held on the first Saturday of November, and in no case beyond the second Saturday of November.

This change institutionalizes predictability and uniformity in the electoral process across all provincial and federal bar councils.

The bill also introduces stricter eligibility requirements for candidates contesting Bar council elections. A candidate must be enrolled as an advocate of the high court for not less than 10 years. The candidate must have successfully handled at least 30 individual cases.

Disqualification of membership will be upon individuals convicted of an offence involving moral turpitude or sentenced to imprisonment for two years or more (unless released at least five years ago), will be disqualified from contesting.

Another major development under the amendment is the allocation of Bar council seats for the newly merged districts into the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. These seats will be included in the group of districts as specified under Sub-Section (2)(b) of Section 5 of the Act, ensuring their rightful representation.

Bar councils play a pivotal role in upholding constitutional supremacy, rule of law and independence of the judiciary. The committee deferred other constitutional amendment bills on the agenda.