ISLAMABAD (The Thursday Times) — The Federal Constitutional Court decided 9,000 cases in its first year, its chief justice said on Friday, as the court created under the 27th Amendment marked its anniversary with a commemorative postage stamp and a new e-court.
“By the grace of God, we decided 9,000 cases this year, and no court in Pakistan would have a record of deciding as many cases as we have,” Chief Justice Aminuddin Khan told the ceremony in Islamabad. He said no court had delivered so many decisions in so short a time.
All of the court’s judges attended, along with the attorney general and office-bearers of the Pakistan Bar Council and the Supreme Court Bar Association. The event opened with a documentary on the court’s first year. The chief justice unveiled the Rs40 stamp, inaugurated an e-court facility, and launched a book of Urdu translations of the court’s main judgments.
Justice Aminuddin said the year had passed so quickly that the judges had barely noticed it. He said the court had decided cases swiftly while giving every party a full chance to argue its position, and that the time it allowed lawyers for arguments matched practice in courts around the world.
He told judicial officers and staff never to be fully satisfied with their work. “Always strive to identify areas where improvements can be made in your work,” he said, adding that working set hours was a basic duty, but building an institution meant going beyond routine.
The Federal Constitutional Court was set up in November 2025 under the 27th Amendment, which moved cases on fundamental rights and the interpretation of the Constitution and laws to the new court. Its first year has not been without friction with the Supreme Court. Earlier this month, the court said Supreme Court judgments were not binding on it, only “persuasive”, and in October its chief justice rebuked a Supreme Court bench over “judicial discipline”.
