Challenging Times for Pakistan Supreme Court Says Justice Mansoor Ali Shah
In a frank and forthright conversation at the BU Pardee School, Pakistan’s Supreme Court Justice Mansoor Ali Shah discussed the grave challenges as well as the opportunities that lie before for Supreme Court of the country. The event was organized by the Pardee School’s Institute on Culture, Religion and World Affairs (CURA) with support from the Center for the Study of Asia on September 25, 2023.
Justice Shah’s engaging lecture and the discussion, moderated by Professor Adil Najam, described a country beset with political division and uncertainty where the Supreme Court has ended up being at the very center of controversy as well as expectation. Justice Shah began his opening lecture with the bold confession that “the legitimacy of my court is under serious threat, and that pains me and every judge of the Supreme Court very gravely.” He went on to detail and discuss his views on how the court has arrived at this juncture and also what it will take to reverse the situation and regain public legitimacy and trust in the highest court of the country.
At the discussions conclusion, following a robust Q&A session with the audience, Professor Najam posed a thought-provoking query to Justice Shah: “Is this the worst of times or the best of times for the Supreme Court of Pakistan?” Without hesitation, Justice Mansoor Ali Shah responded that he would prefer to be an optimist, firmly believing that the ‘best of times’ lay on the horizon, just within reach. He grounded his optimism in two fundamental convictions. Firstly, he expressed his belief that the court had now carved out an honest space for intellectual dissent through judgments, a space likely to be nurtured by both current and future Chief Justices. Secondly, he stressed that there is a strong desire for reform, shared by many of the Justices serving on the Supreme Court today but also felt in society. According to Justice Mansoor Ali Shah, this reform agenda encompasses a number of critical aspects including case management, the composition of benches, addressing delays in case processing, enhancing transparency in both procedures and proceedings, and using technology and better processes to upgrade the entire judicial system.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah was elevated to the bench at the Lahore High Court in 2009 and after serving as the Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court for almost two years was elevated to the Supreme Court of Pakistan in early 2018. He got his law degree from the University of Cambridge, UK, as well as, the University of the Punjab, where he also obtained a degree in Masters in Economics. His areas of special interest are the constitutional law, human rights, climate and water justice, environmental sustainability, disability rights, criminology, digital surveillance, privacy and proportionality.
The Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs (CURA), at the Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, brings together a multi-disciplinary community of scholars to encourage and support research on the role of religion in public affairs. The Boston University Center for the Study of Asia, also housed at the Boston University Pardee School of Global Studies, promotes comprehensive, interdisciplinary, and cross-national understanding of Asia through coordination of teaching missions, research support, community-building among faculty and students, and broad outreach beyond the university. Adil Najam is Dean Emeritus and Professor at the Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University and since July 2023 also serves as the President of WWF-International.