UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk raised grave concerns about Pakistan’s constitutional amendment in a statement issued in Geneva.
A press release dated November 28, 2025, on the official United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, red-flagged the South Asian country’s ” hastily adopted constitutional amendments.” Turk said that the nation’s latest constitutional amendment, like the 26th amendment last year, had been pushed into the focus without proper consultation and discussion with the legal community and civil society at large.
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk speaks out against Pakistan’s 27th Constitutional Amendment
“Pakistan’s hastily adopted constitutional amendments seriously undermine judicial independence, and raise grave concerns about military accountability and respect for the rule of law,” said UN Human Rights spokesperson Jeremy Lawrence, as seen in a video released on the United Nation’s SNS platforms. “These changes, taken together, risk subjugating the judiciary to political interference and executive control.”
He particularly argued that these amendments could have “far-reaching consequences,” which could take a toll on the “principles of democracy and rule of law which the Pakistani people hold dear.”
The changes Turk is referring to in the UN statement are the ones adopted on November 13. The UN banner’s statement foregrounded that a new Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) had been granted powers over constitutional cases under the new amendments. The Office of the High Commissioner further noted that this move had replaced the Supreme Court from the seat of its previous authority, as it would now only concern itself with civil and criminal cases.
#Pakistan: @UNHumanRights is concerned that hastily adopted constitutional amendments risk far-reaching consequences for the principles of democracy & rule of law which the Pakistani people hold dear.
— UN Human Rights (@UNHumanRights) November 28, 2025
➡️ https://t.co/mtHoK9Xzdr pic.twitter.com/lNLL70pUiK
With the first Chief Justice of the FCC and the first set of FCC judges already assigned by the country’s president at the prime minister’s behest, Volker Turk stated that it would only undermine the “structural independence of Pakistan’s judiciary,” as fears of political intervention loom.
“These changes, taken together, risk subjugating the judiciary to political interference and executive control,” he went on. “Neither the executive nor legislative should be in a position to control or direct the judiciary, and the judiciary should be protected from any form of political influence in its decision-making.”
The statement on the UN website also noted, “A core measure of judicial independence is a tribunal’s insulation from political interference by the Government. If judges are not independent, experience shows that they struggle to apply the law equally and to uphold human rights for all in the face of political pressure.”
Internal criticism of Pak’s new Constitutional Amendment Bill
Pakistan President Asil Ali Zardari signed the 27th Constitutional Amendment Bill on November 13, 2025, after it was approved by both houses of parliament. The changes especially granted Pakistani Army Chief, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir new heights of authority and lifelong legal immunity.
As also established by the UN Human Rights Chief this week, Munir’s sweeping control over the military was seen as a massive hit for judiciary’s independence. His full statement in the press release added, “Sweeping immunity provisions like these undermine accountability, which is a cornerstone of the human rights framework and democratic control of the armed forces under the rule of law.”
Consequently, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Senator Ali Zafar had also raised questions about the amendment, claiming that it was laid on the foundation of deceit and fraud, according to News On Air.
