Judicial Activism and Institutional Legitimacy of Supreme Court of Pakistan (2006-2014)

Dr. Intikhab Alam, Anwarul Mujahid Shah, Nauman Reayat &  Dr. Mushtaq Ahmad Jadoon 

Abstract
This article attempts to inquire the instruments and approach adopted by the
Supreme Court of Pakistan to cultivate institutional legitimacy during the process
known as judicial activism from 2006 to 2014. Whereas judicial activism in
Pakistan has already been empirically touched upon by legal scholars and
intelligentsia, the current research is about the accomplishments achieved by the
apex court through the process of judicial activism. It is argued that judges of the
Supreme Court of Pakistan decided various cases strategically and through
strategic decision making cultivated institutional legitimacy. Main problem
targeted by this work is judicial activism as focal point of discourse on the apex
court in Pakistan and its position as instrument of measurement for judicial
activism. For this purpose, this article contributes to concepts of judicial activism
and strategic decision-making and reflects, theoretically on institutional
legitimacy. Moreover, institutional legitimacy of the Supreme Court of Pakistan
has been posited in discourse on role of courts in political development of
countries in global south and global north.

Keywords: Supreme Court of Pakistan, Strategic decision making, judicial
activism, institutional legitimacy.