Justice Jamal Mandokhail Says Judiciary Must Remain Subject to Constitution and Law

ISLAMABAD: Speaking at a farewell reference held in his honour in the Supreme Court, Justice Jamal Mandokhail said he had wanted to address the gathering without a prepared text and speak from the heart, but his fellow judge, Justice Shahid Waheed, persuaded him to write down his impressions and read them out.

He said that after five years of service in the Supreme Court, the time had come to say goodbye. Whatever he had become, he said, he owed it to his parents and teachers.

Justice Mandokhail said a judge is nothing without his oath, and a judge should always keep that oath in mind.

Much is said these days about an independent judiciary, he observed, but the judiciary, while being independent, must also be subject to the Constitution and the law.

He said no single individual has the authority to make the final decision on a judge’s conduct or behaviour. The true measure of a judge’s ability, honesty and character, he said, is his judicial decisions.

It is often attributed to Socrates that a judge should have four qualities: he should hear both parties with patience and courtesy, respond with wisdom, reflect with seriousness, and decide with impartiality.