ISLAMABAD – The Military Courts across Pakistan shut down as the term expired today.
As per the media report, The two-year term of the military courts has expired on January 6, 2019, and the constitutional amendment required for another extension could not be passed yet amid rifts among major political parties and the prevailing uncertain political scenario in the country.
However, the PTI has planned to pass a constitutional amendment in the Pakistan and the Army Act, 1952, which requires a two-thirds majority in both the lower and upper house of the parliament.
This implies that no new cases can be lodged with the military courts, however the courts do possess mandate to complete the ongoing cases.
The military courts were initially established under the Constitution (Twenty- First Amendment) Act, 2015, after massacre of schoolchildren in Peshawar on December 16 in 2014 as a part of eradicating the growing tide of militancy and terrorism in the country, and for trying terrorists attached with militant outfits using the name of religion or sect.