Pakistan · Constitution
Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan
The third constitution, adopted in 1973 and amended 26 times. It establishes a federal parliamentary system with a bicameral legislature, declares Islam the state religion and provides that no law repugnant to Islamic injunctions shall be enacted. Chapter 1 of Part II guarantees fundamental rights enforceable under Articles 184(3) and 199. The 18th Amendment of 2010 was transformative: it stripped presidential powers accumulated under military rule, abolished the Concurrent List and devolved wide subject-matter to the provinces, and renamed the North-West Frontier Province.
The constitutional text
The third constitution, adopted in 1973 and amended 26 times. It establishes a federal parliamentary system with a bicameral legislature, declares Islam the state religion and provides that no law repugnant to Islamic injunctions shall be enacted. Chapter 1 of Part II guarantees fundamental rights enforceable under Articles 184(3) and 199. The 18th Amendment of 2010 was transformative: it stripped presidential powers accumulated under military rule, abolished the Concurrent List and devolved wide subject-matter to the provinces, and renamed the North-West Frontier Province.
Separation of powers
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.
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