General Laws

A 1950 law regulating hotel and lodging-house rates in the Karachi Division through a government-appointed Controller, who fixes "fair rates," caps room occupancy, and can order accommodation reserved, with penalties -- up to six months' imprisonment -- for overcharging guests.

An 1880 law allowing Provincial Governments to appoint Kazis (and their deputies) to be present at Muslim marriages and ceremonies on community request, while clarifying that a Kazi's presence is not legally required and Kazis have no judicial powers.

A 1982 ordinance creating the Korangi Fisheries Harbour Authority to build, manage, and regulate a fisheries harbour within Port Qasim, run by a government-appointed Board with fisheries-industry representation.

A 1930 law imposing a cess (export duty) on lac and refuse lac exported from Pakistan, historically set in pre-decimal annas per maund, with most of the Act's other provisions since repealed or omitted.

An 1892 law confirming the government's power to charge and collect tolls on the Lansdowne Bridge over the Indus at Sukkur, and letting that toll mechanism be extended to other government-funded roads and bridges.

A 1979 Ordinance establishing the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan, chaired by the Chief Justice, to review and reform Pakistani law (Section 6) and administer an Access to Justice Development Fund (Sections 6-A and 6-B).

An 1875 Act governing which published law reports Pakistani courts must recognise as citable authority, and restricting unauthorized publication of judgments, with penalties for violations.

An 1874 Act, now largely historical, that originally declared which older colonial-era laws applied throughout Pakistan except in certain 'Scheduled Districts.'

A 1926 Act letting lawyers privately agree on and sue for their professional fees, while confirming they can still be sued for negligence in handling a client's case.

A 1898 colonial-era law allowing government to establish leper asylums, arrest and detain "pauper lepers," and restrict lepers from certain trades and public places, with small fines for violations.

A 1927 law that governs how lighthouses are built, managed, and funded in Pakistan through ship "light-dues," and sets out the officials responsible for running the system.

A 1985 ordinance restricting passports (except Hajj passports), driving licences, arms licences, and federal government employment to literate persons, with an exemption for the physically or mentally handicapped.

A 1914 law setting out how local authorities such as municipalities, cantonment boards and port authorities may lawfully borrow money -- for what purposes, subject to what government approval, and what happens if a loan is not repaid.

A 1921 law that lets Pakistani courts register and enforce maintenance (support payment) orders made in other countries, and lets Pakistani maintenance orders be sent abroad for enforcement, but only for countries formally declared as reciprocating territories.

A 1979 ordinance requiring state-managed cement companies to pay a per-ton levy to the State Cement Corporation of Pakistan, funding a Cement Development Fund for the industry.

This 1889 colonial-era Act made the British imperial standard yard Pakistan's official legal measure of length, though Pakistan has since moved to the metric system under later legislation.

An 1889 Act prohibiting private persons from making, issuing or possessing metal tokens intended for use as money, protecting the government's coinage.

The Motor Vehicles Act, 1939 is an old federal law whose surviving provisions mainly require third-party insurance for motor vehicles used in public places in Pakistan, with a penalty under Section 125 of up to three months' imprisonment or a five-hundred-rupee fine for driving uninsured; most of its other chapters have since been repealed and replaced by provincial legislation.

A 1994 law establishing the National Fund for Cultural Heritage, a government-backed, tax-exempt fund managed by a Board of Governors to finance the conservation of Pakistan's archaeological, historical, and cultural heritage.

This 1973 act establishes and governs Pakistan's National Guards — currently the Mujahid Force and Janbaz Force — covering enrolment, discipline, and their relationship to the regular Pakistan Army.

Establishes National and Provincial Training Boards to regulate and promote vocational training, set training standards, and register, license and trade-test training providers and skilled workers, backed by fines for non-compliant establishments.

A 1915 colonial-era law that establishes and disciplines the Frontier Constabulary, a paramilitary police force for the former North-West Frontier (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and, under later amendments, other parts of Pakistan.

An 1881 law letting the Federal Government remove or destroy sunken vessels, fishing-stakes and other obstructions in port fairways, recover its removal costs, sell unclaimed items, and penalise (with up to six months' imprisonment or a five-hundred-rupee fine) anyone who breaches rules against creating such obstructions.

Pakistan's core state-secrecy and espionage law from 1923, recently expanded in 2023 to cover digital and electronic information, that criminalises unauthorised access to or disclosure of information about defence sites, military assets, and government secrets.

This 1913 act establishes the statutory office of Official Trustee in each province, a government-appointed trustee that individuals, wills, and courts can use in place of a private trustee, with rules on its powers, fees, and audited accounts.

A 1946 law imposing excise duty on oil extracted from oilseeds in Pakistani mills and customs duty on exported oilseeds, requiring mill owners to file monthly returns and letting Collectors assess and collect the duty.

A 1979 Ordinance regulating the import, export, and quarantine of animals and animal products to prevent disease spread, giving Quarantine Officers inspection and destruction powers under Section 6 and setting penalties under Section 8.

A 1997 law that requires fish processing plants and fish exporters to register and meet quality standards, with Fishery Officers empowered to inspect, seize substandard fish, and prosecute violators under Sections 3-14.

The Pakistan Hotels and Restaurants Act, 1976 requires hotels and restaurants across Pakistan to register, obtain a licence, and meet standards set by a government Controller, who also classifies hotels on a one-to-five star system and can fix and enforce fair rates.

A 1976 Act giving the Federal Government power to prohibit or regulate the import of plants, crops, and pests to prevent agricultural disease, backed by Customs Act enforcement powers and criminal penalties for violations.

A 1980 ordinance dissolving the Pakistan Refugees Rehabilitation Finance Corporation and transferring its assets, liabilities, contracts, and staff to a successor body designated by the Federal Government.

A 1976 Act establishing Pakistan Study Centres and the National Institute of Pakistan Studies within universities to research the languages, culture and society of Pakistan's regions.

A 1950 law establishing the Pakistan Territorial Force, a volunteer part-time military force, covering enrolment, unit organisation, discipline under the Pakistan Army Act, and conditions under which members must perform military service.

A 1973 Act enabling a government scheme letting industrial units import machinery on credit, repayable from export earnings, with a penalty of up to twenty-seven percent of the shortfall if a unit fails to repatriate the required foreign exchange.

The Petroleum Act, 1934 regulates the import, transport, storage, production, refining and blending of petroleum in Pakistan through a licensing and testing regime, with penalties and accident-reporting provisions; it has been amended as recently as 2025.

This Ordinance authorises the Federal Government to levy a Petroleum Levy and a Climate Support Levy on fuel products like petrol, diesel, and furnace oil, with Climate Support Levy rates of Rs. 2.50 per litre for 2025-26 rising to Rs. 5 per litre for 2026-27.

A 1959 Ordinance regulating the manufacture of power alcohol from molasses and its blending with petrol as motor fuel, including mandatory blend ratios and penalties for unlicensed production.

A 1968 law declaring that privy purse payments owed to former Rulers of princely states that acceded to Pakistan are to be charged directly on the Federal Consolidated Fund.

A 1992 Act that legally locks in Pakistan's post-1990 economic liberalisation reforms, protecting foreign currency freedoms, privatisation, investment, banking secrecy, and fiscal incentives from being reversed or taxed away.

A 1920-era law governing how an individual is declared insolvent, how their property is distributed among creditors, and how they can later be discharged from their debts; it has been amended many times since.

A 1958 ordinance criminalizing disorderly conduct, carrying weapons, and threatening or insulting language at public meetings in Karachi Division, with offences made cognizable, non-bailable, and punishable by up to two years' rigorous imprisonment or a fine.

A 1958 ordinance banning the wearing of political uniforms in public and the organisation of private paramilitary-style groups for political purposes, with cognizable, non-bailable offences punishable by up to two years' imprisonment.

This 2001 ordinance merged the Regional Development Finance Corporation and Small Business Finance Corporation into a single public limited company, transferring their assets, liabilities, employees, and business to the new entity and repealing the two laws that had created them.

This 2000 ordinance modernised Pakistan's law on registering industrial designs, defining what counts as a protectable design, how to register one at the Patent Office, and what happens when a registered design is infringed or falsified.

A 2000 Ordinance protecting original semiconductor chip layout-designs for ten years from first commercial use, with registration through the Patent Office, civil remedies for infringement, and criminal penalties of up to two years' imprisonment and a fine of at least Rs. 200,000.

A 1939 law requiring foreigners in Pakistan to report their presence, movements, and departure, and obliging hotels, vessels, and aircraft to report foreign guests or passengers, backed by penalties for non-compliance.

Guarantees free, compulsory education to every child aged five to sixteen in Islamabad, requiring schools to register, meet standards, and admit disadvantaged children without capitation fees or screening, with specific fines and jail terms for violations.

A 1947 emergency Ordinance that created a government insurance scheme -- funded by compulsory premiums -- to compensate cotton ginning and pressing factories for loss or damage caused by riots, civil commotion, strikers or politically-motivated violence around Partition.

A 1937 transitional law that kept pre-1937 Electricity Act and Boilers Act rules in force under the newly created Electricity Board and Boilers Board, until those boards issued replacement rules.

A 1949 Ordinance that formally established the Sind Textile Board -- a member-funded trading corporation, membership capped at seventy wholesale cloth dealers, set up to manage cloth procurement and distribution in Sind and Karachi Division.