Law of Pakistan

Module 4

The judiciary and the legal professions: judicial independence and appointment, the court hierarchy, the highest courts and the Federal Constitutional Court, High Courts and writs, the Federal Shariat Court, tribunals, and advocates, prosecutors and notaries

Anyone who deals with Pakistani law sooner or later asks which court decides this, how long it takes and who may speak for me there. The Constitution says that the judiciary is to be separated from the executive (Article 175) and sets out a ladder of courts: civil and criminal courts in every district, High Courts in the provinces and in Islamabad, a Supreme Court and, since 2025, a Federal Constitutional Court, with the Federal Shariat Court on the side for the Islamic review of laws and specialised courts and tribunals for family, banking, labour, tax and terrorism cases. The superior courts have also played a large part in public life, and the constitutional amendments of 2024 and 2025 changed how the highest judges are chosen and how the highest courts divide their work. This module gives a map of the courts and of the people who work in them: judges, advocates, prosecutors and notaries.

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.