Extra-Judicial Killings: A Threat to Rule of Law

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It’s been a couple of weeks that we have been witnessing news pertaining to eliminate criminals in police encounters. On its face, it appears quite soothing and relieving that our institutions are cracking down on criminals with an iron hand, but let’s take a rewind to where it all started.

It was May 2025, when the Punjab government vowed to make the province “CRIME FREE” and established a Crime Control Department (CCD), with a purpose to combat serious, heinous, and organized crimes. The CCD was to be functional 24/7 and each single day of the year to help the district police. Their police stations were installed in every district of Punjab with a mission not to spare a single criminal in Punjab and aiming to make it the safest province. Modern problems require modern solutions to deal with, so they decided to use drone technology as well.

Let’s appraise where it all gained prominence. From May to June, every other news was replete with “police encounters”, in total reporting 401 criminals as killed during those encounters and hundreds injured and arrested.

Some troubling questions arise: is it legal? Does this activity comply with fundamental human rights? Will it further erode the trust in institutions? These are not just ordinary encounters, but they fall under the ambit of extra-judicial killings.

Firstly, let’s analyze how the apex court views this. The Supreme Court of Pakistan emphasized this characteristic by defining extra-legal executions as killings “which have no sanction or permission under the law, or which cannot be covered or defended under any provision of law.” (Benazir Bhutto versus the President of Pakistan, PLD 1998 SC 388).

There has been a history of staged encounters by police. Various international and national human rights watchdogs have reported cases where police have orchestrated fake encounters, particularly in Punjab, Sindh, and Baluchistan, depriving an individual’s right to fair trial. It’s not something to cheer on or celebrate.

The use of force by law enforcement, if not regulated and monitored by constitutional principles and judicial oversight, becomes a tool of fear and abuse rather than protection. The danger lies in normalizing such actions and creating a culture of impunity. Once state institutions begin operating outside the framework of legality, it opens a Pandora’s box where even the innocent can become victims. Accountability becomes blurred, and citizens lose confidence in both the law and its enforcers.

It’s a fact that Pakistan has a weak criminal justice system. The unnecessary delays, case burdens on courts, flaws in investigation are a part of it. It’s true that the system is plagued with inefficiencies, if one court convicts an accused then the other may acquit him. But is this the right way? Will justice be delivered this way? The answer lies in negation. This is the violation of the “Supreme Law of Land”, the Constitution, which guarantees that no person shall be deprived of life or liberty saved in accordance with law (Article 09 of 1973 Constitution). When you kill a person, no matter how heinous crime he has committed, he is a citizen of state and state has a constitution to govern its people. It’s the right of a criminal to be tried under a due process of law. When you kill a person as according to the manner that’s squarely unjustified and illegal, you took his right to life, violating constitution.

Moreover, the international community and human rights organizations have consistently condemned such practices. According to reports by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, extra-judicial killings not only violate domestic law but also breach Pakistan’s obligations under international law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Pakistan is a signatory. These obligations require the state to protect life and ensure fair trial guarantees, even for those accused of the gravest crimes.

Extra-judicial killings are a grave humanitarian crisis. In a rule-of-law democracy, vengeance cannot substitute for justice. We are not in a period of lawlessness or the state of nature that Hobbes feared, we are a country with a constitution, a law to govern us. Extra-judicial killings are a violation of the constitution. So, these acts can’t be justified in any way. If there are flaws in the justice system, they need to be corrected there; extra-judicial killing doesn’t provide a justification for those.

Public safety is one of the paramount necessities, we have laws to ensure it and in case of violation the law provides a remedy also; a penalty, but with a due process of law. It should never be at the expense of legality and human dignity. If we want a safer society, we must insist not merely on tough policies but fair ones. Real justice lies in the power of law, not bullets. In a civilized society, no individual or institution should have the power to decide who lives or dies without the scrutiny of a competent court of law.

The sanctity of human life is the cornerstone of any legal system, and bypassing the judiciary for the sake of efficiency or emotional satisfaction sets a dangerous precedent. If the state truly wants to restore peace and security, it must uphold the law rather than undermine it. Justice that is seen to be done in courts, with transparency, ensures peace that is lasting, not forced. ( LLB 6th, QAU isb.)

The real solution lies in reformation, not retribution.

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The writer is LLB 6th semester student at prestigious School of Law, Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad- Pakistan. She can be reached at maryamriaz508@gmail.com