HISTORY OF PAKISTAN JUDICIAL SYSTEM FROM BRITISH ERA

Abstract

This article seeks to describe the progress of Pakistan’s judicial system over the years. It aims to explain how the legal infrastructure of Pakistan today was influenced by the legal reforms of the British administrators, the East India Company’s policies, and the Company’s rule. Alongside this, the article also captures the development of the judicial system during and after the rule of colonizers. The legal system that Pakistan inherited after gaining independence in 1947 was built on the judicial framework developed during British rule. As a result of colonization, many efforts were made to ‘localize’ the justice system to fit within the boundaries of British common law with additional various quasi-cultural and quasi-religious polish. This included setting up new courts, legislating local laws, and merging local customs with British legal principles. Eventually, this system became increasingly hierarchical, organized and structured with distinct functions and subdivisions. Pakistan was bound to inherit this complicated system after independence, which it gradually continued to improve. In the years that followed independence, Pakistan sought to amend the system to acknowledge the country’s rich cultural heritage and historical setting. This marks the change in the system’s structure and illustrates the fact that Pakistan continues to face new legal challenges and transforms its structure to accommodate them however, it still remains integrated with the remnants of colonial legacies.

Keywords: Judicial System, British Era, Pakistan, Amendments, Customs, Hybrid System