ISLAMABAD:
The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) has warned that judicial corruption in Pakistan has reached a systemic scale and may amount to grand corruption, saying the country’s justice system has become increasingly vulnerable to political influence and institutional capture.
The organization made these observations in a report titled “Under the Bench: Mapping Corruption Risks in Pakistan’s Justice System.”
According to the executive summary, Pakistan’s democratic institutions, including the judiciary, have been under increasing pressure in recent years and have been subject to gradual weakening and capture by the executive branch.
“This has been accompanied by a severe repression of fundamental freedoms, facilitated by repressive legislation and serious violations of human rights. In this context, the judiciary has become a tool for the repression and silencing of activists and dissidents,” the report states.
The report says that the 26th and 27th constitutional amendments have had a significant negative impact on judicial independence and the protection of fair trial rights in Pakistan.
“These developments mark a regressive change in Pakistan’s legal and constitutional order by completely stripping away the limited independence previously enjoyed by the judiciary,” it says.
According to the report, judicial appointments, court formation and high-level case management are now subject to political influence in ways that contradict international standards for judicial independence.
It further states that these structural distortions at the top level have also affected the lower judiciary, where judges are influenced by higher courts in their conduct and decision-making, increasing the potential for external pressure.
The report recommends repealing both constitutional amendments to restore judicial independence.
Examining judicial corruption, the report states that corruption has become endemic throughout Pakistan’s judicial system, undermining the independence and effectiveness of the judiciary and its ability to uphold fair trial rights and protect fundamental freedoms.
It identifies three interrelated factors that favor corruption: a weak administration of justice at all levels of the judicial system that leads to bribery and corrupt practices; cultural dynamics that encourage favoritism and nepotism; and the erosion of judicial independence, which has resulted in what it describes as state capture of the higher judiciary.
The report also examines what it calls the failure of existing accountability mechanisms to investigate corruption allegations effectively and hold those responsible to account.
It argues that accountability institutions have become increasingly politicized and used as tools for political victimization rather than mechanisms to address systemic corruption. It highlights the lack of protection for whistleblowers amid increasing restrictions on freedom of expression and a reduction in civic space.
According to the report, judicial corruption has serious human rights implications, including violations of due process and equality before the law, which particularly affect low-income communities and minorities.
It also links corruption to the incidence of torture and the use of capital punishment and highlights its adverse impact on gender equality within both the legal profession and the judiciary.
“The report concludes that there are indications that judicial corruption in Pakistan has reached a systemic scale and may amount to grand corruption,” it says.
It also offers a series of recommendations aimed at addressing weaknesses in the administration of justice, improving transparency, strengthening accountability mechanisms, ensuring action against perpetrators of corruption and protecting whistleblowers.
The report says its findings are based on interviews with 30 interlocutors, including four women, who have knowledge of Pakistan’s justice system. Those interviewed included lawyers, former and retired judges (including two former Chief Justices of Pakistan, former Supreme Court judges, and a former High Court judge), as well as journalists and representatives of civil society organizations.
The report further states that attacks on judicial independence and fundamental freedoms have been compounded by widespread corruption in public institutions.
Citing Transparency International Pakistan’s 2025 National Corruption Perception Survey, the report says the police are perceived as the most corrupt institution in the country, while the judiciary ranks third nationally.
The FIDH is an international human rights NGO that federates almost 200 member organizations. Since 1922, FIDH defends all civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights established in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, according to its website.
