You hear "Chief Justice of Pakistan" on the news. Maybe someone asks you who it is. Or you want to know who heads the country's top court. The answer changed a lot in the last two years. Here it is, straight.
The short answer
Yahya Afridi is the Chief Justice of Pakistan right now. He took the oath on 26 October 2024. He is the 30th person to hold the office. He heads the Supreme Court of Pakistan, as the Supreme Court's official website confirms.
But here is the part that confuses people. Since November 2025, Pakistan has two top courts. The Supreme Court and the Federal Constitutional Court. Each has its own chief justice. More on that below.
Who is Yahya Afridi?
Afridi was born on 23 January 1965 in Dera Ismail Khan. His family is from Babari Banda village in Dara Adam Khel tehsil. That area was once part of the tribal belt, the former FATA. He is the first Chief Justice with roots in the former tribal areas.
He studied at Aitchison College and Government College Lahore. He did his law degree at the University of the Punjab and a master's in law at Cambridge University on a Commonwealth Scholarship.
His career went like this. He became an advocate of the high court in 1991. He worked as assistant advocate general of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. He became federal counsel in 1995 and an advocate of the Supreme Court in 2004. He joined the Peshawar High Court bench in 2010 and became its Chief Justice in December 2016, the youngest in that court's history. He moved to the Supreme Court in 2018.
On 26 October 2024 he took the oath as Chief Justice of Pakistan at Aiwan-e-Sadr, the presidential palace. President Asif Ali Zardari administered the oath.
How is the Chief Justice chosen now?
The old rule was simple. The most senior judge of the Supreme Court became the Chief Justice. That changed with the 26th Amendment in October 2024, whose full text is on the National Assembly website.
Now a Special Parliamentary Committee picks the Chief Justice. The committee has eight members from the National Assembly and four from the Senate. It chooses from the three most senior judges of the Supreme Court. The choice needs a two thirds majority of the committee. The Prime Minister then advises the President to appoint that judge.
Afridi was the first Chief Justice chosen under this new process. The committee nominated him on 22 October 2024.
How long does the Chief Justice serve?
The term is three years, or until the judge turns 65, whichever comes first.
Afridi was born in January 1965. His three year term started in October 2024, so it runs to around October 2027.
What does the Chief Justice do?
The Chief Justice heads the Supreme Court and runs the country's court system on the administrative side. He decides which bench hears which case. He sets the agenda of the court. He also administers the oath of office to the President.
Days after taking charge, a full court session under Afridi approved a plan to clear the Supreme Court's 59,191 pending cases. He also ordered live streaming in the court's courtrooms.
Want to know how many judges sit on that bench? We explain how many judges sit in the Supreme Court of Pakistan in a separate guide.
The Federal Constitutional Court: the second top court
Here is the big change. The 27th Amendment was passed in November 2025. It created a new court, the Federal Constitutional Court, the FCC. The court's own portal is at fccp.gov.pk, and the amendment text is on the National Assembly website.
Under the new Article 175E, the FCC has exclusive jurisdiction over questions of constitutional interpretation, disputes between the federal government and provincial governments, and the enforcement of fundamental rights.
The FCC can also take up a case on its own if it involves a substantial question about the Constitution. Its judgments bind every other court, including the Supreme Court. FCC judges retire at 68. Supreme Court judges retire at 65.
So the Supreme Court no longer handles constitutional cases. It is now mainly an appellate court for cases that do not involve the Constitution.
Two senior judges of the Supreme Court, Mansoor Ali Shah and Athar Minallah, resigned in protest when the amendment passed. Both left on 13 November 2025.
Who is Aminuddin Khan?
Aminuddin Khan is the first Chief Justice of the Federal Constitutional Court. He was appointed on 13 November 2025, as Dawn reported.
He was born on 1 December 1960 in Multan. He practised civil law, especially property, pre-emption and inheritance cases. He joined the Lahore High Court bench in 2011 and the Supreme Court in 2019. Before the FCC existed, he presided over the constitutional bench of the Supreme Court.
The FCC started its judicial year for 2026-27 in September 2026. Both courts are working side by side, and both chief justices are active. In October 2026 the President approved foreign visits for both of them, per Dawn.
What changed for you?
Two things matter if you have a case.
First, if your case involves a fundamental right or a question about the Constitution, it may now go to the Federal Constitutional Court. Second, ordinary appeals, like a criminal appeal or a civil dispute, still go to the Supreme Court.
Pakistan also has high courts in each province. You can read about how many high courts are there in Pakistan. And if your case is in a high court, you can check a high court case status online.
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