Civil Laws

A 1913 law confirming that Muslims may lawfully create a family wakf — a permanent endowment primarily supporting their own family or descendants — as long as it ultimately benefits the poor or another recognised charitable purpose.

The National Highway Authority Act, 1991 establishes NHA to plan, build and maintain Pakistan's national highways, motorways and strategic roads; its governance was significantly restructured by a 2024 amendment that created a National Highway Council and tied NHA to the State-Owned Enterprises Act, 2023.

A 2000 ordinance setting minimum driving ages, licensing and renewal rules for driving on national highways, grounds for licence cancellation or disqualification, and a schedule of fixed rupee fines for specific traffic and parking violations.

A 2001 martial-law-era ordinance that merged the National Zakat Foundation into the Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal, transferring its assets, liabilities, and employees as of 31 March 2001.

A 1967 Ordinance requiring specified natural gas companies to pay a government 'development surcharge' equal to the gap between their fixed and prescribed sale prices.

A 1926 law setting out the eligibility conditions, application process, and oath requirements for a foreign national to become a naturalized citizen of Pakistan.

Defines and regulates promissory notes, bills of exchange, and cheques in Pakistan — who is liable on them, how they are transferred, what happens on dishonour, and special rules for crossed cheques — a heavily amended 1881 law still in force.

A 1961 law regulating notaries in Pakistan — how they are appointed and registered (Sections 3-5), what notarial acts they may perform (Section 8), and the penalty for practising without a valid certificate (Section 12).

An 1873 law governing how courts administer oaths and affirmations to witnesses and interpreters, including special rules for Muslim and non-Muslim witnesses (Section 6) and child witnesses (Section 5).

The 1951 law defining who is a Pakistani citizen -- covering citizenship by birth, descent, migration, naturalisation, and marriage -- and the procedures for registration, domicile certificates, and (in general) disallowing dual nationality.

Governs the minting of Pakistan's coins, what counts as legal tender, and the procedure for handling defaced or counterfeit coins; most of the original 1906 provisions have since been repealed and replaced.

A 1950 Act authorizing the Government of Pakistan to issue one-rupee currency notes as legal tender, with Penal Code counterfeiting offences applied to them.

The Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997 establishes the federal and provincial Environmental Protection Agencies, sets pollution and impact-assessment requirements, and creates Environmental Tribunals to enforce environmental standards nationwide.

Pakistan's consolidated merchant shipping law, covering ship registration and nationality, coastal shipping regulation, and the certification, wages, discipline, welfare and repatriation of seamen, replacing a raft of older British- and Pakistan-era shipping Acts.

Reorganizes Pakistan's telecom sector by creating the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) as regulator, converting the old state Corporation into Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), and setting up the Frequency Allocation Board, Universal Service Fund, and telecom licensing system.

This 1976 Act requires tourist guides in Pakistan to be licensed after passing prescribed tests, sets maximum service charges they can demand, and allows licence suspension for violating the code of conduct, with a fine up to five hundred rupees for unlicensed practice.

An 1893 law that lets courts order a sale (instead of a physical division) of jointly-owned property when partition isn't practical, and sets out procedures for shareholder buy-outs, sale mechanics, and valuation.

The core law defining what a business partnership is, how partners' rights and duties work between themselves and toward outsiders, how firms dissolve, and why registering a partnership firm (Sections 56-71) matters for a firm's ability to sue.

The Passports Act, 1974 requires citizens to hold a valid passport to leave or enter Pakistan and criminalises illegal departure, passport forgery, and trafficking, while giving the government power to arrest, seize transport, and cancel or impound passports.

Pakistan's core patent law, implementing WTO/TRIPS obligations, covering how patents are examined, granted, licensed (including compulsory licensing), enforced, and revoked, plus regulation of patent agents.

Lets Port Authorities at Pakistan's major ports quickly evict lessees who overstay or unauthorized occupants from port land and buildings through a Magistrate-led process, with an appeal to the District Magistrate but courts otherwise barred from interfering.

The 1908 law establishing how Pakistani ports are administered by Conservators, what safety offences apply within port limits (e.g. damaging moorings, discharging firearms), and how port-dues are levied and recovered from vessels using the port.

An 1882 law confirming that a person acting under a power of attorney can validly sign documents in their own name, protecting good-faith payments made under an apparently valid power, and allowing powers of attorney to be deposited with the High Court.

A 1977 law empowering the government to fix and control prices of essential commodities and to prosecute profiteering, hoarding, and unauthorised price increases, with fines up to one lac rupees and up to three years' imprisonment for violations.

The Private Security Companies Ordinance, 2001 licenses and regulates private security companies operating within the Islamabad Capital Territory, requiring a licence to operate, setting penalties of up to three years' imprisonment or a two-hundred-thousand-rupee fine for unlicensed operation, and giving officials power to inspect and search suspected unlicensed businesses.

A 1948 Act letting the Federal Government declare ports "protected areas" and restrict entry into them, with imprisonment up to three years or a fine for violating the entry rules.

This 1962 Ordinance established what became the Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation (originally the Provincial Industrial Development Corporation, West Pakistan), a government-controlled body promoting industrial development in specified sectors like textiles, cement, sugar and heavy engineering, governed by a Board of Directors under government direction; a heavily amended, decades-old law.

An 1850 law requiring officials entrusted with public money, securities, or land ("public accountants") to give security for their conduct, and allowing losses caused by their default to be recovered like unpaid land revenue.

The Public Debt Act, 1944 governs the issue, transfer, and succession of Government securities (bonds, stock, treasury bills) administered by the State Bank of Pakistan, including special procedures for disputed claims, deceased holders, and small holdings.

This 1960 Ordinance lets the relevant government prescribe financial procedures, issue directions, and audit publicly-funded corporations and institutions, with penalties for non-compliance or false information.

A largely superseded 1872 colonial-era act that once declared which older Punjab regulations remained in force; its few surviving provisions cover the rule of decision in personal-law civil cases, village watchmen, and control of cattle slaughter.

A 1944 ordinance making unlawful possession of railway stores a criminal offence punishable by up to five years' imprisonment or a fine or both, and placing the burden on the possessor to prove lawful acquisition.

A 1947 Act giving the Federal Government temporary emergency powers to direct railway administrations to prioritise, restrict or refuse transport of specified categories of goods, originally enacted for post-independence supply management.

An 1853 Act, almost entirely repealed today, whose one surviving provision (Section 26) makes a witness who evades a court summons or refuses to testify liable for damages.

The Registration Act, 1908, sets out which property-related documents (gifts, sales, leases) must or may be registered, and establishes the network of Registrars and Sub-Registrars who process such registrations across Pakistan.

A 1948 law empowering federal or provincial government to regulate mining and oil-field licences, royalties, and production, with penalties of up to three years' imprisonment for rule breaches, and specific (but likely outdated) petroleum royalty and tax concessions in its Schedule.

An 1880 Act letting non-Muslim, non-Hindu, non-Buddhist religious bodies appoint trustees, hold property, and dissolve themselves through simplified procedures.

The Revenue Recovery Act, 1890 lets a Collector in one district recover unpaid land-revenue-type dues from a defaulter located in another district by sending a certificate, and gives the defaulter a right to pay under protest and sue to recover the amount if they dispute the debt.

A 1992 law that retroactively cancels six specific 1992 bills that would have raised salaries and privileges for the President, Prime Minister, federal ministers, and Parliament members, after the National Assembly itself voted to withdraw them.

The foundational commercial law governing contracts for the sale of goods -- how ownership and risk transfer, implied conditions about quality and title, an unpaid seller's rights (lien and stoppage in transit), and remedies for breach of a sale contract.

The Sarais Act, 1867 is a colonial-era law requiring roadside inns (sarais) to be registered with the local District Magistrate and kept clean, safe and staffed with watchmen, with small fines for keepers who violate its rules.

The Securities Act, 1920 sets out the legal rules for Government-issued securities such as promissory notes, treasury bills and bonds, covering ownership on death, endorsement, duplicate issuance, and rule-making powers for the government, and is superseded for some purposes by the later Public Debt Act, 1944.

This 1976 act (heavily amended, most recently in 2024) regulates the quality of seeds sold in Pakistan through a National Seed Development and Regulatory Authority, covering variety registration, certification, inspection, and enforcement including Seed Tribunals.

A short curative law that retroactively validates orders issued by Settlement Commissioners who had been delegated the Chief Settlement Commissioner's powers under the 1958 Displaced Persons (Compensation and Rehabilitation) Act, protecting Partition-era property and compensation decisions from being invalidated.

This 1973 Act simply assigns official short titles to about thirty Martial Law Regulations and Orders from Pakistan's period of military rule, so they could be cited more easily; it does not itself regulate any activity.

This 1896 law let indebted hereditary landholders (jagirdars and zamindars) in Sindh apply to have their property placed under a government-appointed manager who would negotiate a formal scheme to pay off their creditors.

This Ordinance creates Small Claims and Minor Offences Courts for quick, low-cost resolution of civil claims up to Rs. 100,000 and minor criminal offences, with a built-in mediation (Salis) process before full trial.

An 1860 Act allowing seven or more people to register a literary, scientific or charitable society with legal recognition, and (via a 2024–2025 amendment) requiring religious seminaries (Deeni Madaris) to register under it or directly with the government, subject to curriculum and reporting conditions.

The Soldiers (Litigation) Act, 1925 lets soldiers serving under war or special conditions get civil or revenue court decrees set aside if judgment went against them in their absence, and excludes their deployment time from limitation periods; it is a heavily amended 1925 law.

A 19th-century civil law setting out when Pakistani courts can order specific remedies -- recovery of property, specific performance of contracts, rescission or cancellation of documents, declaratory decrees, and injunctions -- rather than just money damages.