The legal system of Pakistan
A common-law system inherited from British India, layered with Islamic law through a distinct institutional route. The nineteenth-century codes still supply the core of contract, tort, evidence and procedure. What makes Pakistan structurally unusual is the Federal Shariat Court, created in 1980: it may strike down any law it finds repugnant to the injunctions of Islam, on its own motion, with appeal to the Shariat Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court. The ordinary courts and the Shariat courts therefore both exercise a form of constitutional review, on different criteria.
Legal tradition
Pakistan belongs to the mixed common law and islamic law tradition. A common-law system inherited from British India, layered with Islamic law through a distinct institutional route. The nineteenth-century codes still supply the core of contract, tort, evidence and procedure. What makes Pakistan structurally unusual is the Federal Shariat Court, created in 1980: it may strike down any law it finds repugnant to the injunctions of Islam, on its own motion, with appeal to the Shariat Appellate Bench of the Supreme Court. The ordinary courts and the Shariat courts therefore both exercise a form of constitutional review, on different criteria.
How power is divided
Federal, with four provinces — Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan — plus Islamabad Capital Territory, and Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan under distinct constitutional arrangements. The 18th Amendment abolished the Concurrent Legislative List, leaving residual power with the provinces and giving them primary responsibility for education, health, labour and local government. The Council of Common Interests mediates federal-provincial disputes over resources.
Where law comes from
- The Constitution of 1973
- Supreme; includes the repugnancy clause and the fundamental rights chapter.
- Federal and provincial statutes
- Including the surviving British Indian codes as amended.
- Injunctions of Islam
- A test of validity applied by the Federal Shariat Court, not a directly applied code.
- Judicial precedent
- Supreme Court decisions bind all courts under Article 189.
- Customary personal law
- Muslim, Hindu and Christian personal law govern marriage and succession by community.
The legal profession
A single fused profession of advocates, enrolled with a provincial bar council after a law degree and the licensing examination, with separate rights of audience acquired by seniority: enrolment allows appearance in subordinate courts, then the High Court after two years, then the Supreme Court after ten years of High Court practice. The Pakistan Bar Council regulates nationally. Bar associations are politically influential and were central to the 2007-2009 lawyers' movement that secured the restoration of the deposed Chief Justice.
Law by topic in Pakistan
- Immigration & NationalityWork visas sponsored by a registered company, with security clearanceForeign nationals need a visa obtained before travel for most categories, though an e-visa system operates for many nationalities. Work visas require a sponsoring company and Ministry of Interior clearance.
- Property & LandProvincial land law, deed registration, and no general bar on foreign ownershipLand law is provincial. Transfer is governed by the Transfer of Property Act 1882 and registration by the Registration Act 1908; foreign nationals may generally own property, subject to restrictions in cantonment and border areas.
- Tax LawIncome Tax Ordinance 2001 federally, sales tax on services provinciallyThe Income Tax Ordinance 2001 governs direct tax with a 29 percent corporate rate. Sales tax on goods is federal at 18 percent, while sales tax on services is levied by each province separately.
- Constitutional Law1973 Constitution with an Islamic repugnancy check on legislationThe 1973 Constitution creates a federal parliamentary republic. The Federal Shariat Court may strike down laws repugnant to Islam, and the Supreme Court exercises broad original jurisdiction under Article 184(3).
- Family LawMuslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961 plus separate minority personal lawsMuslim family matters follow the 1961 Ordinance with divorce notified to the Union Council. Christians, Hindus and Parsis have their own statutes, and Hindu marriage was only given a federal statute in 2017.
- Business & CorporateCompanies Act 2017 with SECP e-filing and broad foreign ownershipThe Companies Act 2017 replaced the 1984 Ordinance. SECP administers incorporation electronically, and 100 percent foreign equity is permitted in most sectors under the Investment Policy.
- Criminal Law1860 Penal Code overlaid by the Hudood Ordinances and anti-terrorism courtsThe Pakistan Penal Code 1860 and Criminal Procedure Code 1898 remain the base. The 1979 Hudood Ordinances added offences drawn from Islamic law, and Anti-Terrorism Courts operate under a separate 1997 statute.
- Civil Procedure1908 Civil Procedure Code with severe backlogsCivil suits proceed under the Code of Civil Procedure 1908 through Civil Judge and District Judge courts to the High Court and Supreme Court. Delay measured in years is the dominant practical reality.
- Employment & LabourLabour law devolved to the provinces after 2010Following the Eighteenth Amendment each province enacted its own industrial relations and standards legislation. Federal law now covers only the Islamabad territory and trans-provincial establishments.
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