Judgment Days

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Yasser Latif Hamdani  August 10, 2012 | UPDATED 07:38 IST

Judiciary: Judgment days

Yasser Latif Hamdani on role of judiciary in Pakistan

Tags: India | Pakistan judiciary | Pakistan Independence day | India | Yasser Latif Hamdani

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Yasser Latif Hamdani

The judicial history of Pakistan is as patchy as the political history of the country. What started as an impartial and secular institution imbued with the finest British traditions of justice and fair play has given way to a politicised theocratic institution vying for political power, while retaining some of the trappings of colonial grandeur (we still address the judges as "my lords" or "your lordships"). The evolution of Pakistani judiciary has to be seen in the context of three other factors in Pakistan's institutional structure-the parliament/executive, the army and religion.