Punjab passes law permitting highly secretive terrorism trials
Punjab's assembly approved a bill that lets terrorism cases be tried with judges, prosecutors and witnesses kept largely anonymous.
On August 31 the Punjab Assembly enacted the Anti-Terrorism (Punjab Amendment) Bill 2026, establishing a system where terrorism prosecutions can be conducted with the identities of judges, prosecutors, police and witnesses hidden. A senior bureaucrat, known only to the chief justice of the Lahore High Court, may designate any case as a special security case and select the trial judge and prosecutor, after which all participants are referred to by titles and the case file is sealed.
The law includes provisions for videolink hearings, voice alteration and no expiry date, and allows further measures to be added without new legislation. Opposition lawmakers, lawyers and rights groups contend the bill undermines constitutional guarantees of a fair trial and gives unchecked authority to an unelected official. Government representatives maintain the change is needed to safeguard officials from intimidation amid rising terrorist threats.
Why it matters
The law could reshape due process in Pakistan by shifting control of terrorism prosecutions from courts to a secretive executive authority.
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