Pakistani authorities arrested human rights lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, advocate Hadi Ali Chattha, while they were traveling to a court hearing in Islamabad. The arrests, reportedly carried out with force and without …
Pakistan
Kureshi(2022). “Seeking supremacy: The pursuit of judicial power in Pakistan”
Kureshi, Y. (2022). Seeking supremacy: The pursuit of judicial power in Pakistan. Cambridge University Press. The emergence of the judiciary as an assertive and confrontational center of power has been the most consequential new feature of …
Kureshi (2025), “To Reinforce or Replace: Courts and Democratic Backsliding”
Kureshi, Yasser. To Reinforce or Replace: Courts and Democratic Backsliding (2025). Government & Opposition. doi:10.1017/gov.2025.10015. Courts are often seen as defenders of democracy, but this article shows that empowered judiciaries can also enable democratic backsliding. …
Islamabad Court Attack Sparks Nationwide Lawyers’ Boycott in Pakistan
A deadly terrorist assault on the district and sessions courts complex in Islamabad’s G-11 sector has triggered a national outcry from Pakistan’s legal community. The attack, which killed multiple people and injured dozens—including lawyers and …
Pakistan Expands Military Chief’s Powers and Limits Supreme Court Authority
Pakistan’s parliament has passed a sweeping constitutional amendment that expands the powers of the military and sharply reduces the authority of the Supreme Court — a move critics warn will cause lasting damage to the …
Ghias (2010), “Miscarriage of Chief Justice: Judicial Power and the Legal Complex in Pakistan under Musharraf.”
Shoaib A Ghias, “Miscarriage of Chief Justice: Judicial Power and the Legal Complex in Pakistan under Musharraf.” Law & Social Inquiry, vol. 35, no. 4 (2010): 985–1022. Summary: This article explores the struggle for judicial …
Kyle, Reiter (2021), “Military Courts, Civil-Military Relations, and the Legal Battle for Democracy: The Politics of Military Justice (1st ed.)”
B.J. Kyle, A.G. Reiter, Military Courts, Civil-Military Relations, and the Legal Battle for Democracy: The Politics of Military Justice (1st ed.). London: Routledge, 2021. Summary: The interaction between military and civilian courts, the political power that …
Ghias (2010), “Miscarriage of Chief Justice: Judicial Power and the Legal Complex in Pakistan under Musharraf.”
Shoaib A Ghias, “Miscarriage of Chief Justice: Judicial Power and the Legal Complex in Pakistan under Musharraf.” Law & Social Inquiry, vol. 35, no. 4 (2010): 985–1022. Summary: This article explores the struggle for judicial power …
Khosla (2025), “The Authoritarian Argument.”
Madhav Khosla, “The Authoritarian Argument.” Journal of Democracy, vol. 36, no. 3 (2025): 47-62. Summary: The article rethinks the role of courts and judge in the autocratization process based on the case of Pakistan. It …
Ahmend (2012), “The Rule Of Law–A Substratum Of Justice: The Lawyers’movement And Its Impacts On Legal & Political Governance Of Pakistan”
This article explores how the lawyers’ movement in Pakistan serves as a critical force for restoring the rule of law and reinforcing judicial independence in a context of democratic backsliding.