The Politics of Pakistan takes place within the framework established by the constitution. The country is a federal parliamentary republic in which provincial governments enjoy a high degree of autonomy and residuary powers. Executive power is vested with the national cabinet which is headed by Prime Minister of Pakistan, who works with the bicameral parliament and the judiciary. Stipulations set by the constitution provide a delicate check and balance of sharing powers between executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the government.
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq was a Pakistani military officer who served as the sixth president of Pakistan from 1978 until his death. He also served as the second chief of the army staff of the Pakistan Army from 1 March 1976 until his death.
Freedom of religion in Pakistan is guaranteed by the Constitution of Pakistan for individuals of various religions and religious sects.
The Hudud Ordinances are laws in Pakistan enacted in 1979 as part of the Islamization of Pakistan by Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, the sixth president of Pakistan. It replaced parts of the British-era Pakistan Penal Code, adding new criminal offences of adultery and fornication, and new punishments of whipping, amputation, and stoning to death. After much controversy and criticism parts of the law were extensively revised in 2006 by the Women's Protection Bill.
Islamization or Shariazation, has a long history in Pakistan since the 1950s, but it became 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."
Sheikh Anwarul Haq, was a Pakistani jurist and an academic who served as the 9th Chief Justice of Pakistan from 23 September 1977 until resigning on 25 March 1981. He signed the death warrant for former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in a controversial murder case. Bhutto was executed on April 4, 1979.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP) is an Islamist political party in Pakistan. It was founded in 1948 by leaders of All India Sunni Conference. The JUP exercised considerable political influence in Pakistani politics during the 1970s to 2003. Its students' wing Anjuman Talaba-e-Islam has a considerable following in Sunni institutions across the country. The party is considered a moderate force in the country.
The judiciary of Pakistan is the national system of courts that maintains the law and order in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan uses a common law system, which was introduced during the colonial era, influenced by local medieval judicial systems based on religious and cultural practices. The Constitution of Pakistan lays down the fundamentals and working of the Pakistani judiciary.
The chief justice of the Federal Shariat Court of Pakistan heads the Federal Shariat Court of Pakistan. The chief justice of the Shariat Court is the second-highest judicial office in the country, after the chief justice of Pakistan.
The Pakistan Penal Code outlaws blasphemy against any recognized religion, with punishments ranging from a fine to the death penalty. According to various human rights organizations, Pakistan's blasphemy laws have been used to persecute religious minorities and settle personal rivalries, frequently against other Muslims, rather than to safeguard religious sensibilities.
Muhammad Karam Shah al-Azhari was an Islamic scholar of Hanafi jurisprudence, Sufi, and Muslim leader. He is known for his work Tafsir Zia ul Quran fi Tafsir ul Quran, meaning "The light of the Quran in the Exegesis of the Quran." It is commonly referred to as Diya ul Quran or Zia ul Quran. He also wrote Zia un Nabi or Diya al-Nabi, a biography of Muhammad in seven volumes.
The Women's Protection Bill which was passed by the National Assembly of Pakistan on 15 November 2006 is an attempt to amend the heavily criticised 1979 Hudood Ordinance laws which govern the punishment for rape and adultery in Pakistan. Critics of the Hudood Ordinance alleged that it made it exceptionally difficult and dangerous to prove an allegation of rape, and thousands of women had been imprisoned as a result of the bill. The bill returned a number of offences from the Zina Ordinance to the Pakistan Penal Code, where they had been before 1979, and created an entirely new set of procedures governing the prosecution of the offences of adultery and fornication. Whipping and amputation were removed as punishments. The law meant women would not be jailed if they were unable to prove rape and their complaints of rape would not be seen as confession of adultery.
Haziqul Khairi was a Pakistani jurist and author who served as Chief Justice of the Federal Shariat Court of Pakistan, Judge of the Sindh High Court, Ombudsman of Sindh and Principal of Sindh Muslim Law College. He was the grandson of eminent British India social reformer, Allama Rashid ul Khairi.
Syed Afzal Haider was a Pakistani legal figure who was the caretaker Law, Justice, and Parliamentary Affairs minister. He was also an author of several books.
The law of Pakistan is the law and legal system existing in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistani law is based upon the legal system of British India; thus ultimately on the common law of England and Wales.
Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq's tenure as the sixth president of Pakistan began on 16 September 1978 and ended with his death in an aircraft crash on 17 August 1988. Zia came to power after a coup, overthrowing prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and imposing martial law in 1977.
The economic policies proposed under the banner of "Islamisation" in Pakistan include executive decrees on Zakāt (poor-due), Ushr (tithe), judicial changes that helped to halt land redistribution to the poor, and perhaps most importantly, elimination of riba. Perhaps the foremost exponent of Islamisation among Pakistan's rulers—General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq—advanced a programme in 1978 to bring Pakistan law in line with the principles of Sharia law.
The History of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, organised by the Chief Justice of Pakistan, follows from its constitutional establishment in 1947 till its recent events. The Supreme Court of Pakistan is the highest appellate court of the country and court of last resort— the final arbiter of the law and the Constitution.
The legislative assembly of Pakistan has enacted several measures designed to give women more power in the areas of family, inheritance, revenue, civil, and criminal laws. These measures are an attempt to safeguard women's rights to freedom of speech and expression without gender discrimination. These measures are enacted keeping in mind the principles described by the Quran.
The Safia Bibi rape case involved the rape of a nearly blind teenaged girl named Safia Bibi in 1982 by her employers, in Sahiwal, Pakistan. When she was unable to prove the rape in court, she herself was charged with fornication under Pakistan's Sharia inspired Hudood Ordinances and sentenced to 3 years in jail, 15 canings and a fine.
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