Pakistan's Supreme Court
On October 6th 2011, the Supreme Court of Pakistan announced its verdict on the Karachi suo motu case. This city last summer witnessed an alarming level of violence. According to the Supreme Court itself, 1310 people have been murdered this year. Article 184(3) of Pakistan’s Constitution states that the Supreme Court is allowed to take action by its own initiative whenever there is a possible violation of fundamental rights. In this way, the Supreme Court has the possibility to address sensitive problems that the Executive has failed to deal with.
The Karachi Verdict points out that both the Provincial Government and the Federal Government failed to protect the Fundamental Rights of the citizens. The Court also outlined a number of recommendations in order to improve the situation in the city in the short and long term. Karachi is a good example of how the politicisation of the Executive and law enforcement agencies may weaken the ability of the Government to restore law and order and protect the citizens, especially considering that political parties themselves were involved in the perpetration of the violence. In such cases, the action of the judicial power may be crucial. However, could the judicial power really represent a solution for the failures of the Executive in the long run?
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