A group of Pakistani lawyers including members of the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) penned a letter to the judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Saturday formally positioning themselves in opposition to a constitutional amendment that would give rise to a new federal constitutional court.

Among the 52 proposed unpublished amendments to the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is an amendment to establish a federal constitutional court. The lawyers, however, say the proposed constitutional package endangers judicial independence and violates the constitutional separation of powers. The constitutional amendments would raise the retirement age of superior judges by three years to 68 and impose a three-year term limit. Equally, there are concerns over an amendment that would allow the chief justice of the court to be appointed by the president on the recommendations of the prime minister.

The proposed federal constitutional court would run parallel to the Supreme Court and involves shifting responsibilities of constitutional interpretation matters away from the Supreme Court. According to the letter’s signatories, “Judges of the High Courts are to be controlled, the Supreme Court is to be amputated, and its severed limb replaced with loyalists handpicked by those who have always wielded power.”

The package of constitutional amendments introduced by the ruling coalition, led by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz failed to get off the ground earlier in September, having been met by resistance from the opposition, failing to obtain the two-thirds needed to pass. The letter’s signatories say, “This proposed amendment emerged from the darkness of the night, from a pen that will not claim it.”

Collective opposition has been expressed among the legal community, chief among them the concern that the government will exercise illegitimate and disproportionate powers over the judiciary, manipulating the delicate balancing exercise needed to give meaning to the rule of law. Compared to the current system, whereby appointments to the Supreme Court are handled by a Judicial Commission, it is feared the amendment would enable the manipulation of key judicial appointments. “We urge those of you who may be hand-picked to serve on it not to do so”, the letter said. “Complicity will be no defence of the Constitution: it will be its defacement.”

The letter echoes concerns expressed at the All Pakistan Lawyers Convention earlier in September over the lack of transparency surrounding the drafting process. The PBC described the “secrecy” surrounding the drafting process and the parliamentary session as a “blatant violation of norms of Parliamentary parties, rule of law and democratic values.”

The Pakistan Bar Council is currently in the process of reviewing the proposed amendments and suggesting necessary changes.