In Pakistan, the 2007-9 movement for the restoration of judiciary— dubbed the lawyers’ movement— culminated in successfully reinstating the judges of the superior judiciary, most notably the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, who had been illegally and unconstitutionally deposed in March 2007 by the then military ruler General Pervez Musharraf.
The movement was a fairly popular one with its original base expanding from the bar associations to eventually include general public and the leading politicians like the late Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. With the campaign turning into a mass urban movement the expectations from the judges— once they were restored— also rose exponentially. The most prominent lawyer- leader, Aitzaz Ahsan, who also served as the deposed Chief Justice’s attorney, even composed these sentiments, coveting justice for all in a welfare state, in verse that instantly became the anthem of the movement.
The overwhelmingly urban nature and the single-point agenda of the movement meant that the majority of the Pakistanis who still live in the villages did not benefit politically from its success. Despite the sloganeering for the common man, including rural population in the said anthem, for example, there were no tangible political goals to be achieved. However, the broader promise of judicial reform and independence of judiciary were obviously the goals that would impact everyone.
It has been over three years since the Chief Justice Chaudhry rightfully reoccupied his office. With the restored and assertive Supreme Court taking up scores of high profile cases, the obvious question is to paraphrase Quis custodiet custodiens—who will guard the guards—to ask: who will judge the judges? Fortunately, both lay and expert observers are now taking stock of the success and failures of the struggle. The independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) reviewing the laws and law-making, administration of justice, law enforcement and fundamental freedoms in its 2011 report, has noted: