Istanbul / Islamabad – May 8, 2026: Pakistan’s judiciary marked an important milestone this week as the country’s first-ever judicial delegation undertook an official working visit to İstanbul, Republic of Türkiye, from May 3 to 8, 2026. The visit comes under a recently signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on judicial cooperation between the Supreme Court of Pakistan and the Constitutional Court of Türkiye, aimed at strengthening judicial capacity, fostering mutual learning, and promoting the integration of modern technologies in judicial systems.
The delegation was nominated by the Hon’ble Chief Justice of Pakistan and includes Hon’ble Mr. Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan; Hon’ble Mr. Justice Ali Baig, Chief Justice of the Chief Court Gilgit-Baltistan; along with eight top-performing judicial officers from across the country. These officers—drawn from Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Balochistan—were selected on the recommendation of their respective High Courts.
Those representing Pakistan’s district judiciary include:
Mr. Mustahsan Ahmad Minhas, Additional District & Sessions Judge (Okara/Depalpur);
Mr. Sohail Anjum, Additional District & Sessions Judge (Gujranwala);
Mr. Tasawar Ali, Additional District & Sessions Judge (Sindh High Court);
Ms. Fareeha Sanobar, Additional District & Sessions Judge (Sindh High Court);
Mr. Khizar Hayat, Civil Judge (Peshawar High Court);
Ms. Sanam Khalid, Civil Judge (Peshawar High Court);
Mr. Muhammad Ashraf Bazai, Additional District & Sessions Judge (High Court of Balochistan);
Mr. Asmatullah Yousafzai, Senior Civil Judge (High Court of Balochistan).
The week-long programme features sessions on Türkiye’s information technology infrastructure, functioning of its Constitutional Court, international cooperation mechanisms, comparative judicial practices, and individual application procedures. Delegates are attending interactive discussions, institutional visits, and briefings focused on improving case management systems and enhancing the efficiency of court processes. The initiative reflects Pakistan’s commitment to citizen-centric justice delivery and to aligning judicial practices with global standards.
Separately, Pakistan also participated prominently in the Judicial Dispute Resolution Symposium held in Istanbul on May 4–5, 2026. Organized by the Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP) of the U.S. Department of Commerce in partnership with the Istanbul Arbitration Centre (ISTAC), the symposium gathered senior judges, ADR specialists, and legal experts from various jurisdictions to examine the judiciary’s role in strengthening alternative dispute resolution (ADR) frameworks.
Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb represented the Supreme Court of Pakistan in several key sessions, highlighting Pakistan’s ongoing reforms to promote court-annexed mediation, enhance enforcement of foreign arbitral awards, and reduce the longstanding backlog of cases. He emphasized Pakistan’s shift toward institutionalized ADR mechanisms, presenting it as a core pillar of the country’s emerging judicial modernization agenda.
The symposium also hosted a judicial training academies’ roundtable, enabling cross-border exchanges on curriculum development, specialized ADR training, and institutional collaboration. Pakistan’s participation signals its growing engagement with global judicial networks and its efforts to both learn from and contribute to international best practices in dispute resolution and court efficiency.
According to Dr. Shahid Hussain Kamboyo, Public Relations Officer, these parallel engagements not only reinforce Pakistan’s commitment to judicial reform but also strengthen its institutional ties with Türkiye and international bodies working to enhance rule of law and justice delivery worldwide.
