Law of Pakistan

Module 8

Criminal justice and specialised law: the Penal Code and criminal responsibility, qisas and diyat, procedure from the first information report to bail, trial, evidence and appeals, the Hudood laws, anti-terrorism and religion offences, and intellectual property, digital, environmental, maritime and international economic law

Pakistani criminal law has three layers. The core is colonial in origin and still recognisable to any common-law lawyer: the Pakistan Penal Code of 1860 (the old Indian Penal Code), the Code of Criminal Procedure of 1898 and the Qanun-e-Shahadat Order of 1984 on evidence. On top of it sit Islamic provisions: the law of qisas and diyat for offences against the person and the Hudood laws of 1979, as amended. Beside them stand special statutes on terrorism, narcotics, corruption and cybercrime, with their own courts and procedures. A person who is arrested, a victim who reports a crime or a business that receives a dishonoured cheque meets all of these. This module also covers specialised fields that complete the map: intellectual property, digital law, environmental, energy and maritime law and international economic law, which an investor or resident meets in practice. The course describes laws; it takes no view of their merits, and sensitive offences are described as they stand in the statutes.

General education on the law of Pakistan, using invented people and businesses. It states laws and procedures in simplified form and is not legal advice. The law and its practice change, and every case turns on its facts, the authority and the province concerned. It does not offer legal representation or a legal opinion on any case. Consult a Pakistani advocate for any real matter.

This course was written on 6 November 2026. To the best of our knowledge, it describes the law of Pakistan as it stood on that date. Laws change, and we may have missed or misunderstood something. If you notice a change, or have other information, please do not hesitate to contact us: we will review it and update the course. We do not claim to be the final source of the law.