Judges bearing it admirably

Bare-heads and Betty Jackson designer gowns are the new look for judges across England and Wales now – at least when they sit to hear civil cases. I suppose this modern image would be quite timely for some judges in this hot weather.

In Pakistan however the focus for judges is less about the dress code, and more about whether senior judges should actually be allowed to sit.

Ever since they were deposed in November last year, Amnesty has called for these judges to be re-instated.

The original move to throw out a vast majority of the higher court judges who were then replaced by individuals loyal to President Musharraf at the time was in defiance of Pakistan’s constitution.

Since then several groups have called for these judges to be reinstated.  Today nine ministers from ex-PM Nawaz Sharif’s party, the PM-N, have resigned their post in protest.

The new and relatively fragile coalition ruling Pakistan at the moment has certainly taken a body blow from this dramatic step. 

Let’s hope that this does not plummet the country into chaos and instead we see higher court judges in Pakistan back behind the bar before long – with or without wigs.