JURIST - Paper Chase: Pakistan lawyers promise protests if top court blocks reinstatement of judges

[JURIST] Pakistani lawyers will hold nationwide protests if the reconstituted Supreme Court of Pakistan [official website], now packed with judges loyal to President Pervez Musharraf, tries to prevent a parliamentary reinstatement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and other superior court judges Musharraf ousted [JURIST report] last year, Pakistani Supreme Court Bar Association President Aitzaz Ahsan [PILDAT profile; JURIST news archive] said Monday. Ahsan made the comments at the end of a Supreme Court session that is thought to have been convened to issue a stay to block parliament from passing any resolution to reinstate the dismissed judges. The court is expected to issue its ruling, which may hold that parliament needs a two-thirds majority to pass the resolution, on Tuesday. Reuters has more.

The new coalition government [JURIST report] formed by the Pakistan People's Party and Pakistan Muslim League [party websites] has vowed to establish a fully independent judiciary, saying that they will work together to reinstate judges [JURIST reports] who were dismissed by Musharraf last year. Leaders of the new coalition government say a resolution to that effect will be passed within 30 days of the new parliament's first meeting, which took place Monday.

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