ONE of the most typically expressed beliefs in Pakistan about the judiciary is that ‘judges must only speak through their judgements’.

How far is this true today?

In common law countries, the idea that judges should not speak extra-judicially perhaps has roots in the ‘Kilmuir Rule’, which largely prohibited judges from speaking to the public in the United Kingdom. In a letter to BBC’s director general written in 1955 in response to an invitation to senior judges to speak about great British judges from the past, Lord Kilmuir, the lord chancellor at the time, wrote: “So long as a Judge keeps silent, his reputation for wisdom and impartiality remains unassailable: but every utterance which he makes in public, except in the actual performance of his judicial duties, must necessarily bring him within the focus of criticism…”

The Kilmuir Rule was widely accepted for 32 years in the UK, until in 1987 another lord chancellor, Lord MacKay, stated it was “difficult to reconcile with the independence of the judiciary” and judges should decide such matters for themselves.

International law, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), also guarantees the right to the freedom of expression of all people, including judges. This right is subject only to necessary and proportionate restrictions for legitimate purposes, such as ‘public order’, which may include the proper administration of justice.

There are broad and important areas about which judges have a duty to speak.

The ICCPR also provides for the right to a fair trial and the requirement that courts........

© Dawn