Judicial activism and the evolution of Pakistan’s culture of power

Abstract

ABSTRACT The emergence of an assertive judiciary in Pakistan is an apparently anomalous development given the broader trajectory of the collapse of institutional autonomy in the civilian sphere of governance. This paper examines the changes since 2005 by placing them in a broader historical context and argues that a Pakistani variant of a rule of justice tradition that employs the metaphor of the colonial rule of law tradition is emerging. Under this hybrid, the formal apparatus of colonial constitutionalism is employed using expansive, almost despotic, discretion by the superior judiciary, in order to hold the executive to the account. The judiciary draws popular support from such exercises as the spectacle created resonates with the public, and thus support is the fuel upon which judicial independence rests.