Military courts set up in Pakistan after the December 2014 Peshawar school massacre are set to expire on Saturday, PTI reported. The courts were set up to fast-track terrorism cases including the attack on the military school, in which 122 children were killed by a group of seven Taliban militants.

During their two-year run, the courts have tried 274 cases and have awarded 161 death sentences, out of which 12 people have already been executed. The militants who attacked the Peshawar school were among those who were hanged. The courts had also awarded jail terms in 169 cases, reported Dawn.

They were set up in December 2014 after an amendment to Pakistan’s Constitution. However, civil rights activists have held that these courts violated human rights and other fundamental freedoms. The activists had criticised the amendment saying it allowed significant judicial control to be given to the country’s military, Reuters reported.

Advocate Babar Sattar said the end of the courts “will make no huge difference, as they weren’t conceived to fix the criminal justice system or end terrorism”. Cases that were being tried by the courts before their expiry will now be heard by other anti-terrorism courts.