Judicial System of Pakistan

Barakatullah

Abstract
The judiciary is one of the three basic organs of the State, the other two being the Legislature
and the Executive. It has a vital role in the functioning of the State, more so, in a democracy
based on the Rule of Law. Since time immemorial, law and the judiciary have played a vital
role in the Indian polity. The Constitution accords a place of pride to the judiciary by
conferring the power of judicial review of legislative and administrative action and
entrusting it with the task of enforcement of the fundamental rights guaranteed under the
Constitution.1
In a democratic polity, the supreme power of the State is shared among its three principal
organs as constitutional functionaries. Each of the functionaries is independent and supreme
within its allotted sphere and none is superior to the other. Justice has to be administered
through the courts and such administration would relate to social, economic and political
aspects of justice as stipulated in the Preamble of the Constitution and the judiciary,
therefore, becomes the most prominent and outstanding wing of the constitutional system for
fulfilling the mandate of the Constitution. The judiciary has to take up a positive and creative
function in securing socio-economic justice for the people.

Keywords: Pakistan Judiciary, Constitutional-Framework, Powers of Courts, Supreme Court of
Pakistan, National Judicial Policy, Anti-Terrorists Court, Organizational Hierarchy of
Courts, Legal History of Pakistan