General Laws

The Administrator General's Act, 1913 establishes a provincial government official - the Administrator General - who administers the estates of deceased persons (particularly non-Muslims) when no one else is available or entitled to do so.

A 1965 Ordinance restricting bird-attracting activities like tanneries, slaughter-houses and refuse dumps near airfields, to protect aircraft safety, with penalties for non-compliance.

A 1975 act regulating the discovery, ownership, protection, and trade of antiquities in Pakistan, requiring accidental finds to be reported within seven days and setting penalties (up to six months' imprisonment or a fine of five thousand rupees for general violations) for illegal dealing, export, or destruction of protected antiquities.

A 1975 law that defines historically significant Pakistani documents (25+ years old) as "archival material," restricts their export to licensed cases only, and lets the National Archives acquire such material by purchase or donation.

A 1974 Act vesting the government-held Associated Cement business, its assets, employees and provident funds, in the State Cement Corporation of Pakistan Limited.

The Central Depositories Act, 1997 established the legal basis for electronic, paperless ("book-entry") trading and holding of shares and other securities in Pakistan through registered central depositories, covering transfers, pledges, secrecy duties, and enforcement.

An 1899 Act that automatically incorporates Church of Scotland Kirk Sessions in Pakistan as legal bodies able to own property and enter contracts.

A 1979 ordinance requiring bilingual (English and Urdu) health warnings on all cigarette packets and advertising in Pakistan, with penalties up to two years' imprisonment and Rs 10,000 fine, plus mandatory forfeiture, for non-compliance.

Creates the Civil Pioneer Force, a civilian labour force that can be called up for defence-related and emergency work such as repairing roads, building shelters, and factory work, with its own enrolment rules and a military-style disciplinary and offence system.

A 1944 law imposing a Federal Government-set excise cess on copra consumed in oil mills across Pakistan, with mill owners required to file monthly returns and facing recoverable assessments, inspections, and penalties for false or missing returns.

A 1938 law that places Cutchi Memons under Muslim law for succession and inheritance matters, while preserving rights and proceedings that had already arisen before the Act.

A 1992 law restricting tree-cutting within eight kilometres of Pakistan's external land border, requiring authorised-officer approval and minimum tree-density thresholds, with fines and confiscation for violations.

This 1975 Act lets the President institute and confer official decorations (like Nishan-i-Haider), restricts unauthorised creation or acceptance of decoration-like honours, and sets a fine of up to twenty thousand rupees for violations.

A 1917 Act empowering High Courts, revenue authorities, and government officers to make rules for destroying or disposing of old, low-value public records, while safeguarding documents that other laws require to be kept.

A 1949 law declaring government control over the development of 27 listed strategic industries — from steel and cement to pharmaceuticals and textiles — and empowering the Federal or Provincial Government to plan and regulate new industrial undertakings in them.

A 1962 ordinance giving magistrates, police, and armed forces special powers -- including lethal force, warrantless arrest, and search -- in areas a Provincial Government has declared "disturbed."

A 1910 law to stop the spread of dourine, a horse disease, by letting officials register, inspect, segregate, castrate or destroy infected horses with compensation to owners — an old law whose rupee-based penalties and compensation figures are long outdated.

An 1879 law banning the killing, injuring, or capturing of wild elephants without a licence (Section 3), with government ownership of unlicensed captures (Section 4) and fines under Section 7 for violations.

The Enemy Agents Ordinance, 1943 sets up special courts with an expedited, secrecy-heavy procedure to try people accused of spying for or aiding an enemy of Pakistan, with a death penalty for the core offence and no right of ordinary appeal.

The Essential Personnel (Registration) Ordinance, 1948 required people in listed skilled professions and trades to register at government Employment Exchanges, with a fine of up to five hundred rupees for non-compliance; it is a heavily amended, early post-independence law.

A 1976 nationalisation law that transferred Esso Eastern Inc.'s Pakistani petroleum marketing and distribution business -- but not its gas/crude operations, trademarks or patents -- to the Federal Government by agreement with Esso.

Requires a licence to fish in Pakistan's Exclusive Economic Zone, bans dynamite or poison fishing, and lets Fishery Officers search, seize and arrest violators, with penalties currently set (as amended) at up to five years' imprisonment and a ten-million-rupee fine.

Requires private, for-profit employment agencies placing workers inside Pakistan to be licensed and regulated, with penalties for operating without a licence, while agencies sending workers abroad are instead covered separately under emigration law.

An 1878 law, now applying only in Punjab and the former North-West Frontier Province, that lets the government establish and manage public ferries, lease out ferry tolls, restrict competing private ferries, and penalise toll and navigation offences.

A very old (1897) general fisheries law banning the use of explosives or poison to catch fish, and letting provincial governments make rules protecting specific waters — including banning fishing gear or all fishing for up to two years — with arrest powers for offenders, though its fines are long outdated.

Regulates foreign cultural associations operating in Pakistan, requiring government registration and approval of their leadership, restricting foreign funding and political activity, and setting penalties for unlawful formation, false statements or undisclosed political propaganda.

A 1927 law consolidating forest regulation in Pakistan -- how forests are declared "reserved" or "protected," how existing rights of local people are settled or extinguished, and the offences and enforcement powers (including seizure and summary trial) available to forest officers.

The Frontier Corps Ordinance, 1959 establishes and governs the Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force protecting Pakistan's external frontiers, covering its command structure, member recruitment and oath-taking, and a military-style disciplinary code for offences by its members.

A 1973 law that vests four named presidential relief and welfare funds — including the President's Relief Fund and the Tazeenul Quran Fund — in the Federal Government for administration.

A 1936 law implementing Pakistan's Geneva Convention obligations by banning unauthorised commercial or public use of the Red Cross, Red Crescent, and related protective emblems, with a small fine for violations.

An 1899 law empowering Inspectors to search for, seize, and (if certified diseased) destroy horses, camels, asses, or mules affected by glanders or farcy, in areas where a Provincial Government has extended the Act under Section 3.

A 1899 law exempting government-owned buildings from ordinary municipal building regulations, while giving the municipal authority a limited right to raise objections through the Provincial Government.

An 1895 Act providing that government land grants are exempt from the Transfer of Property Act, 1882, and instead take effect strictly according to their own stated terms and conditions.

An 1892 law letting provincial government charge private estates under its management -- such as Court of Wards estates or those seized for unpaid revenue -- a supervision fee of up to 5% of gross income, with the government's own cost calculation not open to court challenge.

A 1960 ordinance that formally extended all Federal laws already in force in Mekran District (Kalat Division) to Gwadar, retroactive to when Gwadar joined Pakistan in 1958, while preserving rights and proceedings under the earlier local laws.

An 1879 colonial law letting municipalities license and regulate horse-drawn hackney-carriages and their drivers, including fares, stands and conduct — now largely of historical interest, with penalties fixed in long-outdated rupee amounts.

A 1930 Act declaring that property a Hindu family member earns through their own education or training is their exclusive property, even if the family paid for that education.

This 1973 act let the Federal Government take over management of, or acquire ownership in, vegetable-oil (ghee) industry businesses as part of that era's nationalization policy, with a formula-based compensation scheme and a later mechanism (added in 1992) for selling these businesses back to private owners.

The 1950 law that lets Pakistan's Federal Government prohibit, restrict, or license imports and exports of goods, backed by penalties of up to one year's imprisonment and/or a fine for violations.

Lets the government require factories and industries to submit statistics on labour conditions, wages and disputes, backed by inspection powers, confidentiality protections for individual businesses, and fines for non-compliance or improper disclosure.

A 1917 law requiring mechanically propelled vessels on Pakistan's inland waterways to hold survey certificates, regulating their masters and engineers, and setting penalties for violations, including a Rs. 1,000 fine for breaching certain traffic and route orders.

A 1909 Act governing personal insolvency proceedings in the Karachi Division — how a debtor is adjudicated insolvent, how their estate is administered by an official assignee and distributed among creditors, and how they may eventually be discharged from their debts.

This 1981 Ordinance requires companies that conduct pre-shipment inspection of Pakistan's exports and imports to register with a government-appointed Authority, banning unregistered inspection activity with penalties of up to three years' imprisonment.

This 2000 Ordinance lets the Federal Government issue orders requiring security measures for shops, businesses and industrial establishments in the Islamabad Capital Territory, with a penalty of up to one month's imprisonment or a fine of up to fifteen thousand rupees for violations.

This 1978 Ordinance dissolved the private company that ran the Islamabad Club and placed its administration under a government-appointed Administrator and Managing Committee, with the President of Pakistan as the Club's Patron.

A 1966 Ordinance protecting Islamabad's natural landscape from unauthorized removal, damage or alteration, enforced by the Capital Development Authority with arrest powers and criminal penalties.

Requires real estate agents and motor vehicle dealers in Islamabad Capital Territory to be registered and licensed, sets disqualification rules and fee caps, and allows registration to be suspended or cancelled for misconduct such as overcharging commission or hiding title defects.

A 1979 ordinance (repealed in 2024) that once governed wildlife protection and hunting restrictions in the Islamabad Capital Territory, including establishing a National Park, wildlife sanctuaries, and licensing and certification requirements for holding wild animals and trophies.

Vests pre-Partition immovable properties of the former State of Jammu and Kashmir (in Pakistan) in the Federal Government, letting an appointed Administrator manage, lease, sell or evict occupants from them, with proceeds partly used for Kashmiri refugee rehabilitation until Kashmir's status is finally settled.

A 1953 law empowering the Karachi Division's Commissioner to fix maximum prices, control possession and licensing of essential goods, and penalize hoarding and black-marketing, tied to the separate Hoarding and Black Market Act, 1948.