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The Court of Session is the primary court of first instance in criminal cases in Pakistan, and most serious criminal cases are tried in it. The court also has limited civil and appellate jurisdiction.
The plea bargain is any agreement in a criminal case between the prosecutor and defendant whereby the defendant agrees to plead guilty or nolo contendere to a particular charge in return for some concession from the prosecutor. This may mean that the defendant will plead guilty to a less serious charge, or to one of the several charges, in return for the dismissal of other charges; or it may mean that the defendant will plead guilty to the original criminal charge in return for a more lenient sentence.
An ex post facto law is a law that retroactively changes the legal consequences of actions that were committed, or relationships that existed, before the enactment of the law. In criminal law, it may criminalize actions that were legal when committed; it may aggravate a crime by bringing it into a more severe category than it was in when it was committed; it may change the punishment prescribed for a crime, as by adding new penalties or extending sentences; or it may alter the rules of evidence in order to make conviction for a crime likelier than it would have been when the deed was committed.
Freedom of religion in Pakistan is guaranteed by the Constitution of Pakistan for individuals of various religions and religious sects.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan is the apex court in the judicial hierarchy of Pakistan.
District courts are a category of courts which exists in several nations. These include:
A jirga is a traditional assembly of leaders that make decisions by consensus and according to the teachings of Pashtunwali. It predates modern-day written or fixed-laws and is conducted to settle disputes among the Pashtun people but to a lesser extent among other nearby groups that have been influenced by Pashtuns. Its primary purpose has been to prevent tribal war. Most jirgas are conducted in Afghanistan but also among the Pashtun tribes in neighboring Pakistan, especially in Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK). In 2017, the Pakistani government was aiming to integrate jirgas into the formal justice system.
An advocate general is a senior officer of the law. In some common law and hybrid jurisdictions the officer performs the function of a legal advisor to the government, analogous to attorneys general in other common law and hybrid jurisdictions. By contrast, in the European Union and some continental European jurisdictions, the officer is a neutral legal advisor to the courts.
In law, sub judice, Latin for "under judgment", means that a particular case or matter is under trial or being considered by a judge or court. The term may be used synonymously with "the present case" or "the case at bar" by some lawyers.
"Sharization" or "Islamisation" was the "primary" policy, or "centerpiece" of the government of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, the ruler of Pakistan from 1977 until his death in 1988. Zia has also been called "the person most responsible for turning Pakistan into a global center for political Islam".
A reverse onus clause is a provision within a statute that shifts the burden of proof onto the individual specified to disprove an element of the information. Typically, this provision concerns a shift in burden onto a defendant in either a criminal offence or tort claim. For example, the automotive legislation in many countries provides that any driver who hits a pedestrian has the burden of establishing that they were not negligent.
The supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in many legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and highcourt of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of a supreme court are not subject to further review by any other court. Supreme courts typically function primarily as appellate courts, hearing appeals from decisions of lower trial courts, or from intermediate-level appellate courts.
The judiciary of Pakistan is a hierarchical system with two classes of courts: the superior judiciary and the subordinate judiciary. The superior judiciary is composed of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the Federal Shariat Court and five High Courts, with the Supreme Court at the apex. There is a High Court for each of the four provinces as well as a High Court for the Islamabad Capital Territory. The Constitution of Pakistan entrusts the superior judiciary with the obligation to preserve, protect and defend the constitution. Neither the Supreme Court nor a High Court may exercise jurisdiction in relation to Tribal Areas, except otherwise provided for. The disputed regions of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit–Baltistan have separate court systems.
The Federal Shariat Court of Pakistan, abbreviated as FSC, is a prestigious court which has the power to examine and determine whether the laws of the country comply with Islamic Shari'a law. This court was set up in 1980 and is located in the federal capital, Islamabad.
Qiṣāṣ is an Islamic term meaning "retaliation in kind", "eye for an eye", "nemesis" or retributive justice. It is a category of criminal justice in Islamic jurisprudence, where Sharia allows equal retaliation as the punishment. Qisas principle is available against the accused, to the victim or victim's heirs, when a Muslim is murdered, suffers bodily injury or suffers property damage. In the case of murder, qisas means the right taking the life of the killer, only if the court approves and after a judge makes the decision.
Diya in Islamic law, is the financial compensation paid to the victim or heirs of a victim in the cases of murder, bodily harm or property damage. It is an alternative punishment to qisas. In Arabic, the word means both blood money and ransom, and it is spelled sometimes as diyah or diyeh.
The High Court Division also known as High Court is the lower division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, the upper being the Appellate Division. It consists of the Chief Justice of Bangladesh and the Judges of the High Court Division.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in Pakistan. Although there have been numerous amendments to the Constitution, there is yet to be a provision prohibiting the death penalty as a punitive remedy.
Law enforcement in Pakistan is one of the three main components of the criminal justice system of Pakistan, alongside the courts and the prisons. In Pakistan, law enforcement is jointly carried out by the federal and provincial police services and other law enforcement agencies who form a chain leading from investigation of suspected criminal activity to administration of criminal punishment. The court system is vested with the power to make legal determinations regarding the conduct of the other two components.
The District Courts of Pakistan are courts that operate at the district level, they are controlled by the high courts. District courts exist in every district of each province, with civil and criminal jurisdiction. In each District Headquarters, there are numerous Additional District & Session Judges who usually preside the courts. District & sessions Judge has executive and judicial power all over the district under his jurisdiction. Session court is also a trial court for heinous offences such as Murder, Rape (Zina), Haraba offences, it is also appelatte court for summary conviction offences and civil suits of lesser value. Each Town and city now has a court of Additional District & Sessions judge, which possesses the equal authority over, under its jurisdiction. When it is hearing criminal cases it is called sessions court and when it is hearing civil cases it becomes District court. Executive matters are brought before the relevant District & Sessions Judge.
Civil law is a branch of the law. In common law legal systems such as England and Wales, the law of Pakistan and the law of the United States, the term refers to non-criminal law. The law relating to civil wrongs and quasi-contracts is part of the civil law, as is law of property. Civil law may, like criminal law, be divided into substantive law and procedural law. The rights and duties of persons amongst themselves is the primary concern of civil law. It is often suggested that civil proceedings are taken for the purpose of obtaining compensation for injury, and may thus be distinguished from criminal proceedings, whose purpose is to inflict punishment. However, exemplary damages or punitive damages may be awarded in civil proceedings. It was also formerly possible for common informers to sue for a penalty in civil proceedings.
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