Categories/system of Law & Pakistani Legal System
Categories/system of Law & Pakistani Legal System
Categories/system of Law & Pakistani Legal System
3/1/2018
Submitted To: Mr Imran Raza Kazmi
History of law
The political ideology was largely sculpted by the likes of individuals such as Muhammad Ali
Jinnah the founder of Pakistan- while studying Law at Lincoln's Inn in London; he became an
admirer of British liberalism. It was these influences that led to the Pakistani common law being
based upon the common law of England and Wales.
The founder Of Pakistan, Muhammad Ali Jinnah had a vision regarding the law of Pakistan, to
implement a system in accordance to Islamic teachings, but it was never fulfilled. This vision,
however, did have a lasting effect on later Pakistani lawmakers. During the reign of
General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, elements of Islamic Sharia law were incorporated into Pakistani
law, leading to the institution of a Federal Shariat Court (FSC).
The subordinate judiciary consists of civil and criminal district courts, and numerous specialized
courts covering banking, insurance, customs and excise, smuggling, drugs, terrorism, taxation,
the environment, consumer protection, and corruption. The criminal courts were created under
the Criminal Procedure Code 1898 and the civil courts were established by the West Pakistan
Civil Court Ordinance 1964.
The president appoints the Supreme Court's chief justice and formally approves other Supreme
Court justices as well as provincial high court judges on the advice of the chief justice. The
Federal Shariat Court determines whether laws are consistent with Islamic injunctions. Special
courts and tribunals hear particular types of cases, such as drugs, commerce, and terrorism.
Pakistan's penal code has limited jurisdiction in tribal areas, where law is largely derived from
tribal customs.
The 1973 constitution guarantees freedom of speech, press, and religion as well as the right to
bail, counsel, habeas corpus, representation, appeal, and numerous other protections. However,
the government has constitutional authority to limit civil liberties in accordance with Islamic
doctrine, national security, and other circumstances. Pakistani courts can impose the death
penalty. The judiciary also suffers from low public credibility, large case backlogs, corruption,
and a lack of resources. As of 2017, Pakistan’s judiciary is suffering from a backlog of two
million cases, with lawsuits taking an average of nearly ten years to resolve. According to some
estimates, 90% of civil cases involve land disputes, owing to Pakistan’s lack of a proper land
register.
Pakistan's Rule of Law development has suffered from decades of military rule with only short
lived and intermittent experience with democratic governance. Since much of the law derives
from the British colonial system, it is seen by many as lacking legitimacy. There is also tension
between the inherited common law system and the Islamic law based on the Quran, especially in
outlying provinces and regions. Questions about legitimacy are compounded by the low level of
efficiency, the prevalence of delays, the inferior quality of legal training, corruption, and the
perception that the court system is a tool for the delay of justice, manipulated by rich and/or
powerful interests in the society.