Court System of Pakistan - High Courts

High Courts

There is one High Court in each Province, and one in the federal capital, Islamabad, including:

• Lahore High Court, Lahore, Punjab
• Sindh High Court, Karachi, Sindh
• Peshawar High Court, Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
• Balochistan High Court, Quetta, Baluchistan
• Islamabad High Court, Islamabad, ICT

The High Courts are the appellate courts for all civil and criminal cases in each respective province. The High Courts' general authority is laid out in the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973, Article 199, which reads:

"199. Jurisdiction of High Court.

(1) Subject to the Constitution, a High Court may, if it is satisfied that no other adequate remedy is provided by law,-

(a) on the application of any aggrieved party, make an order-

(i) directing a person performing, within the territorial jurisdiction of the Court, functions in connection with the affairs of the Federation, a Province or a local authority, to refrain from doing anything he is not permitted by law to do, or to do anything he is required by law to do; or

(ii) declaring that any act done or proceeding taken within the territorial jurisdiction of the Court by a person performing functions in connection with the affairs of the Federation, a Province or a local authority has been done or taken without lawful authority and is of no legal effect; or

(b) on the application of any person, make an order-

(i) directing that a person in custody within the territorial jurisdiction of the Court be brought before it so that the Court may satisfy itself that he is not being held in custody without lawful authority or in an unlawful manner; or

(ii) requiring a person within the territorial jurisdiction of the Court holding or purporting to hold a public office to show under what authority of law he claims to hold that office; or

(c) on the application of any aggrieved person, make an order giving such directions to any person or authority, including any Government exercising any power or performing any function in, or in relation to, any territory within the jurisdiction of that Court as may be appropriate for the enforcement of any of the Fundamental Rights conferred by Chapter 1 of Part 11.

(2) Subject to the Constitution, the right to move a High Court for the enforcement of any of the Fundamental Rights conferred by Chapter 1 of Part II shall not be abridged.

* * *

(4) Where-

(a) an application is made to a High Court for an order under paragraph (a) or paragraph (c) of clause (1), and

(b) the making of an interim order would have the effect of prejudicing or interfering with the carrying out of a public work or of otherwise being harmful to public interest or of impeding the assessment or collection of public revenues,

the Court shall not make an interim order unless the prescribed law officer has been given notice of the application and he or any person authorised by him in that behalf has had an opportunity of being heard and the Court, for reasons to be recorded in writing, is satisfied that the interim order- (i) would not have such effect as aforesaid;or (ii) would have the effect of suspending an order or proceeding which on the face of the record is without jurisdiction.

(5) In this Article, unless the context otherwise requires, - "person" includes any body politic or corporate, any authority of or under the control of the Federal Government or of a Provincial Government, and any Court or tribunal, other than the Supreme Court, a High Court or a Court or tribunal established under a law relating to the Armed Forces of Pakistan; and "prescribed law officer" means (a) in relation to an application affecting the Federal Government or an authority of or under the control of the Federal Government, the Attorney-General, and (b) in any other case, the Advocate-General for the Province in which the application is made. ”