5.9. Effectiveness and integrity of the judiciary

While sources described the judiciary as being ‘formally’1173 or ’for the most part’ independent from the other state powers, it was noted that it ‘has not been entirely independent’ since 2024 as political oversight over the judiciary increased as a result of the 2024 and 2025 constitutional amendments.1174 For further information on the implications of these constitutional reforms for the judiciary, see section 5.2. Major judicial and constitutional reforms above. In broad terms, the court system was ‘marred’ by endemic corruption, intimidation, lack of security, low rates of conviction for serious offences,1175 as well as lengthy trials1176 coupled with significant backlogs of cases.1177 Moreover, the prosecution system was reported to have limited authority and independence, being under-financed, undertrained, and subject to political pressure.1178 According to the findings of Transparency International (TI) Pakistan’s National Corruption Perception Survey (NCPS) 2025, the judiciary was viewed as the country’s third most corrupt public institution, being perceived as corrupt by 14 % of respondents across Pakistan’s four provinces. At provincial level, public perceptions of the judiciary as being corrupt were comparatively higher in KP (18 %) and Punjab (17 %) than in Sindh and Balochistan (12 % each).1179