Parliamentary Sovereignty: An Evolving Misnomer in Pakistan’s Constitutional Framework

Abstract

This article on consideration makes available that sovereignty is an evolving phenomenon. It is not incorrect that when Parliament in the UK was associated with the attribute of sovereignty there was no other authority barring it in which resided the legislative competence and the authority to override its legislation. Nevertheless, with the evolution in the UK’s political and constitutional framework, the traditional role of Parliament and the courts has also changed whereby there are constitutional limitations on the legislative power of the former and the latter is to ensure the said limitations are not transcended by the former. In Parliament and the courts presently is resided the sovereignty which was once used to be only in Parliament. Under the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, each organ namely, Legislature, Executive, and Judiciary, operates independently within its own jurisdiction and carries out its functions within the defined parameters. Although Parliament holds the legislative authority in its specified subjects, the judiciary however have a role in validating these laws through judicial review. This allows the judiciary to confer legitimacy to Parliament’s legislation, ensuring that laws passed by Parliament are within the bounds of the Constitution. Therefore, in contrast to the traditional notions of parliamentary sovereignty, both Parliament and the judiciary have power in relation to legislation which is exercised in the performance of their respective functions.