Judicial Appointments in the Historical Context: From 1947-2005

The study aims to analyze the importance of the procedure of appointment of judges to the superior Courts. The stated article explains the various phases of appointments by providing its historical context. The literature review has shown the impact of civilian and martial law regimes on the constitutional method of appointments of judges. In Pakistan, Judiciary plays the role of a custodian of the Constitution by exercising the power of judicial review. The method for appointment of judges always remained a controversial issue in Pakistan. The descriptive analytical method in the paper is adopted to show that there was a continuous struggle between executive and judiciary to have an upper hand in the appointment of judges. The selection of judges is considered an indispensable element in the independence of judiciary. For this reason two important Constitutional amendments (18th & 19th) were made to adopt a more democratic procedure for the appointment of Judges.