Enchanting Pakistan
The Supreme Court of Pakistan is housed in a marvelously designed structure situated on the main Constitution Avenue in Islamabad. The building is flanked by Prime Minister’s Secretariat to the south and President’s House and Parliament Building to the north. The building comprises Main Central block, Judges’ Chambers block and Administrative blocks. The height of the Main Central block is 167 feet above the ground and it is surrounded by Judges’ Chambers block to the east and Administrative block to the north and south.
The building’s design was prepared by a famous Japanese firm, M/S Kenzo Tange Associates with Pakistan Environmental Planning and Architectural Consultants (PEPAC) serving as its consultants and interior designers. The total cost of Phase-I was Rs.605.960million. The estimated cost of Phase- II is Rs.1,069.293million. The covered area of the existing building is 339,861 square feet. In Phase-II, some additional blocks with a covered area of 134,000 square feet, are currently under construction and after completion the total covered area of the complex will increase to 473,861 square feet.
The edifice contains 11 courtrooms. Five main courtrooms including Court No. 1 known as Chief Justice’s Court are situated at the first floor while the rest are located on the ground floor. The largest courtroom, Court No. 1, has the capacity to house a bench of 20 judges and seating arrangements for 160 persons. It is mainly used for holding full court references, opening and closing of judicial years, retirement of judges and demise of a retired or a sitting judge. Other courtrooms can accommodate seven, five or lesser number of benches. Court auditorium is located in the basement with the capacity to seat 1,000 participants.
The Judges’ Chambers block houses chambers and offices of the Chief Justice, 20 judges and Registrar. The library containing 72,000 books, reports and journals is situated in the basement. This block also contains an Entrance Hall, Conference Room and a dining hall known as Judges’ Lounge. Two administrative blocks contain mainly offices of administrative officers and other members of staff of the court and northern block is occupied by staff of the Supreme Court. The southern block houses offices of Attorney General, Advocates-General, Pakistan Bar Council, Supreme Court Bar Association, Bar Room, Secretariat and Law & Justice Commission of Pakistan. Cafeteria is also situated on the ground floor of this block.TW
