Review Essay: Designing Democracy: Judges, Judicial Review and Constitutionalism in Pakistan

The sweep of democratisation across the world has produced a vast literature debating both the importance and fundamental features of democratic governance. The role of constitutional courts remains contested in this scholarship and scholars are divided on the democratic credentials of judicial review. A major shortcoming of this literature is its reliance on jurisdictions across the Global North in developing its theoretical foundations and research imperatives. This article evaluates the contributions three recent studies focused on Pakistan make to these debates. It suggests that while these three works make an important contribution in identifying the formidable barriers that lie before the judicial institution in building its democratic credentials, the analysis largely overlooks the role of the Islamic court system in its discussion of the democratic legitimacy of judicial review.