Knowledge Center

Hierarchy of laws

As is said that all citizens are bound to follow the ‘laws of the land’. Therefore, as a rule all subordinate legislation and documentation for a transaction/activity should be in compliance with the provisions and intents of the parent laws.

Following hierarchy of laws will help in understanding the requirement of compliance with laws till each and every transaction/activity:

  1. Constitution
  2. General Laws
  3. Industry/Transaction Specific Laws i.e. Acts & Ordinances including International laws
  4. Rules
  5. Regulations
  6. Guidelines
  7. Incorporation document of an organization i.e. Memorandum & Articles of Association, Partnership, Trust Deed, Prospectus etc.
  8. Approved Policies of an organization
  9. Detailed procedures in lieu of the policies
  10. Documentation and Agreements with Suppliers, Vendors & Customers

Following will help in understanding the procedure for compliance with laws of the land as under:

  1. If any General or Specific law is in violation of the Constitution, then it is ultra-vires of the Constitution hence liable to be struck-down by the courts.
  2. No rule, regulation and guideline can deviate the provisions of the parent General or Specific Law, or is without lawful authority or illegal, hence is liable to be struck-down.
  3. No provision of the Memorandum & Articles of Association can be in deviation of the Companies Act, or else a Company will not be granted ‘Incorporation Certificate’ by the Securities & Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), like is the case with a Modaraba, Trust, Society, Partnership etc. under their relevant parent laws.
  4. The Board of Directors/Governance, Trustees i.e. the management of an organization are bound to prepare and approve Policies i.e. ‘Internal Legal Framework’ in the light of the provisions of the ‘Constituent Document’ i.e. Memorandum & Articles of Association, Partnership, Trust Deed, Prospectus etc. or else the Board is liable to be held accountable for non-compliance.
  5. The Executive Management is bound to develop ‘Procedures’ under the approved ‘Policies’ by the Board etc. or else the Executive Management is accountable.

Even in absence of written ‘Policies’ and ‘Procedures’ every ‘Documentation’ and ‘Agreement’ is to incorporate the provisions of the requirements of the prevalent laws, rules, regulations, and guidelines.

Proposed Legal Policy

A written policy contains provisions of various laws, Board/Owners’ directions and best-practices. In order to cover the ‘compliance’ and ‘litigation’ risks, following points may be considered for development of a ‘Legal Policy’ as under:

  1. Procedure for receipt and timely forwarding of Legal Notices/ Court notices
  2. Assessment of adequacy and appropriateness of Legal Framework of the organization. External as well as Internal.
  3. Assessment of legal requirements of a transaction/activity.
  4. Periodic ‘Stock taking’ of Agreements, permissions, licenses, permits, registrations, approvals etc.
  5. Matters in which opinion of in-house legal counsel is required.
  6. Matters in which opinion from a professional lawyer is required.
  7. Matters in which involvement of professional lawyer is involved.
  8. Training schedule for various laws, rules and regulations.
  9. List of relevant laws and availability of these books within the company.
  10. List of various relevant citations along with copies.
  11. Record keeping i.e. copies of previous orders, judgments etc. of the Company’s matters.
  12. Periodic Reports to review ‘Status’ of various matters
  13. Checklist for filing a suit, petition, appeal, etc. along with identification of interim reliefs which may be obtained from the court or interim orders.
  14. Identification of the parties
  15. Identification of the reliefs to be obtained
  16. Safe-keeping of the original documents
  17. Authorization of persons
  18. Engagement of lawyers plus identification of in-house coordinator.
  19. Communication and effective liaison with external lawyers.

Jurisdiction

04.02.2025: Unlimited Pecuniary Jurisdiction of District Courts in Karachi

Civil Suits and related proceedings including Succession Miscellaneous Application (SMAs) and Suits for Partition are filed and decided by District Courts all over Pakistan, including rest of Sindh except District Courts Karachi (DC-K) due to the limited ‘Pecuniary Jurisdiction’.

This exception was inserted in section 7 of the Civil Court Ordinance, 1962 (CCO 1962) which is a Provincial Law.

As in 1962 Karachi was the Capital hence it was separately treated and the Original Civil Jurisdiction (OCJ) was entrusted to Karachi Bench of the West Pakistan High Court in line with provisions of the Sindh Courts Act, 1926 (applicable from 1940), wherein ‘Sindh Chief Court’ at Karachi was given OCJ by British Raj to try suits and related proceedings.

This OCJ of Sindh High Court at Karachi (SHC-K) only, continued even after the shifting of the capital to Islamabad in 1967.

Initially the Pecuniary Jurisdiction of DC-Kwas Rs. 25,000/-, which was increased from time to time and lastly increased to Rs. 65 million in December 2021.

Vide ‘CP.D. 1222/2021: Emad-ul-Hasan Vs. Province of Sindh & Ors’ Mr. Emad challenged the vires of the exception to section 7 of the CCO, 1962 on the point that under the 1973 Constitution the Provincial Legislature of Sindh has no legislative competence to confer OCJ to SHC-K, as High Courts are established under the 1973 Constitution and not CCO 1962 under which District Courts are established.

Unfortunately, the Divisional Bench (DB) of SHC-K vide order dated 01.03.2023 without deciding the vires, disposed of the petitions giving directions to the Government of Sindh. Had the DB struck down the exception, the original section 7 of the CCO, 1962 would have become applicable for the Districts of Karachi also, which provides for unlimited Pecuniary Jurisdiction of District Courts. Reported as PLD 2023 Sindh 187: Ghulam Asghar Pathan and Others Vs. Federation of Pakistan and Others.

Mr. Emad explained in the interview outside the courtroom after announcement of the order dated 01.03.2023 that the exception inserted by the Sindh Assembly in section 7 of the CCO, 1962 should had been struck down as the Provincial Assembly of Sindh has no legislative competence to confer Original Civil Jurisdiction to Sindh High Court at Karachi and the original section 7 already provides for unlimited pecuniary jurisdiction of the District Courts.

Mr. Emad filed appeal challenging the order dated 01.03.2023 before Supreme Court (SC) vide ‘CPLA 578/2023: Emad-ul-Hasan Vs. Province of Sindh & Ors’ mainly praying that  the OCJ of SHC-K should be abolished consequently Pecuniary Jurisdiction of DC-K to be unlimited.

After filing of the appeal before SC, Mr. Emad discussed the issue with many friends, clients, corporate executives and lawyers to create awareness. Many understood as well as supported. 

On 14.08.2023 his interview was published in ‘Special Times Magazine’ about the OCJ of SHC-K and limited Pecuniary Jurisdiction of DC-K.

Mr. Emad published article in ‘The News’ in two parts i.e. Part-I captioned The Judiciary and its domain: Part I on 22.02.2024 and The Judiciary and its domain: Part II 24.02.2024 elaborating the role of the Superior Judiciary.

He Visited SHC-K in the election of Sindh High Court Bar Association on 07.12.2024.

Visited District Courts in the elections of Karachi Bar Association on 14.12.2024 as mentioned hereunder.

On 31.01.2025, the Provincial Assembly of Sindh passed the ‘Sindh Civil Courts (Amendment) Act, 2025’ making Pecuniary Jurisdiction (PJ) of District Courts in Karachi (DC-K) unlimited.

This time not only the Pecuniary Jurisdiction of DC-K was made unlimited but existing suits and related proceedings also to be transferred to the respective District Courts.

Interview of Mr. Emad at Special Times News explaining the struggles of lawyers resulting in passing of the Sindh Civil Courts (Amendment) Act, 2025 giving unlimited pecuniary jurisdiction to District Courts in Karachi (DC-K) thereby abolishing Original Civil Jurisdiction (OCJ) of Sindh High Court at Karachi (SHC-K).

The ‘Sindh Civil Courts (Amendment) Act, 2025’ was submitted to the Governor Sindh for his assent, however on 14.02.2025, the Governor returned the bill to Sindh Assembly for reconsideration on certain points. Therefore on 16.02.2025 the Lex Digital Law Magazine interviewed Mr. Emad in this respect.

With the grace of Allah and efforts of many including the above efforts finally the ‘Sindh Civil Courts (Amendment) Act, 2025’ was assented by the Governor Sindh on 19.02.2025. This time instead of just increasing the Pecuniary Jurisdiction of the District Courts in Karachi like previous amendment Acts in the Civil Court Ordinance, 1962 and retaining the pending matters at Sindh High Court at Karachi (SHC-K), the Pecuniary Jurisdiction of the District Courts in Karachi was made unlimited like rest of the country and the ‘Original Civil Jurisdiction’ of ‘Sindh High Court’ at Karachi was abolished, consequentially the pending suits in SHC-K were also transferred to the respective District Courts.

This is a major structural improvement in the Judiciary and the Adjudication Procedures. The Unlimited Pecuniary Jurisdiction of DC-K and abolishment of Original Civil Jurisdiction of SHC-K has long term benefits for the litigants of Karachi, young lawyers of DC-K, for the Judges of Sindh High Court (SHC) and of DC-K as well as for the society for times to come.

With the passage of the ‘Sindh Civil Courts (Amendment) Act, 2025’, the two prayers (i) making Unlimited Pecuniary Jurisdiction of DC-K and (ii) abolishing Original Civil Jurisdiction of SHC-K of the appeal filed by Mr. Emad i.e. CPLA 578/2023 before the Supreme Court have been satisfied. However, efforts will continue for satisfaction of the prayer for hearing of Constitutional Petitions in Sindh by ‘Single Bench’ like other High Courts instead of ‘Divisional Bench’, which will have far reaching positive impacts on the economic activities in Sindh, for the litigants and lawyers of Sindh.

Suggestions

03.06.2024: Emad suggested six (6) suggestions to the State Bank of Pakistan for improvement in the governance of the Banks, especially with respect to the litigation matters as under:

25.03.2024: In addition to the earlier sixty (60) suggestions submitted by Emad to the National Judicial (Policy Making) Committee (NJPMC), Emad submitted further twenty (20) suggestions for improvement in the Adjudication procedures to the Honorable members of the Supreme Judicial Council and National Judicial (Policy Making) Committee as under:

03.09.2023: Emad posted Suggestions for improvement in adjudication process at the Facebook page of ‘Sindh High Court Bar Association at Karachi (unofficial)’

30.11.2020: Emad submitted sixty (60) suggestions for improvement of Adjudication Procedures to National Judicial (Policy Making) Committee on 30.11.2020 based upon Emad’s practical and personal experiences. The suggestions are in the form of an audit report i.e. Observations/Suggestions and will be part of the under-preparation book ‘Lawyers’ Manual- Volume-II (An insight in the adjudication procedures and suggestions for improvement)’. The link is:

Internship Reports

1. Internship Report of Wajiha Rajani a 3rd year student of LL.B- 5 year program at Hamdard University, Karachi.

2. Internship Report of Javeria Hafeez a final year student of LL.B from University of London- External Program at Themis School of Law, Karachi.

3. Internship Report of our 17th intern  Wasif Khan, student of LLB (Hons) in External Program of University of London from Denning Law School, Karachi.

4. Internship Report of Syeda Izza Maryam Rizvi a student of LLB (Bachelor of law) University of Karachi.

5. Internship Report of Affan Mahdi, a law graduate i.e. LL.B from University of London- External Program at SZABIST Law School.

6. Internship Report of Habibullah Masood Ahmed Memon a student of law i.e. LL.B from University of London- External Program at SZABIST Law School.

7. Internship Report of Sheikh Arsalan Ahmed a student of law i.e. LL.B from University of London- External Program at SZABIST Law School.

8. Internship Report of Zohra Wahab a student of law i.e. LL.B from University of London- External Program (SZABIST Law School).

9. Internship Report of Shayan Effendi, a second year student of LLB (Bachelor of law) University of London External Program at SZABIST Law School.

10. Internship Report of Kinza Shahid a student of law i.e. LL.B from University of London- External Program at SZABIST Law School.

11. Internship Report of Misbah Khurshid a student of law i.e. LL.B from University of London- External Program at SZABIST Law School.

12. Internship Report of Sana Shahzad a student of law i.e. LL.B from University of London- External Program at SZABIST Law School.

13. Internship Report of Aamna Naim a student of law i.e. LL.B from University of London- External Program at SZABIST Law School.

14. Internship Report of Muhammad Zayd Mustafa, a student at Brooklyn Technical High School, New York- U.S.A, who completed a short internship with our firm during his trip to Pakistan.

15. Internship Report of Muhammad Aaqib Shahid student of 2nd year LL.B (University of London- International Program) at SZABIST Law School.

16. Internship Report of Ibrahim A. Minai, student of 2nd year LL.B (University of London- International Program) at SZABIST Law School.

17. Internship Report of Yumna N. Khan student of 2nd year LL.B (University of London- International Program) at SZABIST Law School.

18. Internship Report of our first intern Muhammad Rahid Naseeb, student of 2nd year LL.B (University of London- International Program) at SZABIST Law School.

Internship Reports

  1. Internship Report of Wajiha Rajani a 3rd year student of LL.B- 5 year program at Hamdard University, Karachi.
  2. Internship Report of Javeria Hafeez a final year student of LL.B from University of London- External Program at Themis School of Law, Karachi.
  3. Internship Report of our 17th intern  Wasif Khan, student of LLB (Hons) in External Program of University of London from Denning Law School, Karachi.
  4. Internship Report of Syeda Izza Maryam Rizvi a student of LLB (Bachelor of law) University of Karachi.
  5. Internship Report of Affan Mahdi, a law graduate i.e. LL.B from University of London- External Program at SZABIST Law School.
  6. Internship Report of Habibullah Masood Ahmed Memon a student of law i.e. LL.B from University of London- External Program at SZABIST Law School.
  7. Internship Report of Sheikh Arsalan Ahmed a student of law i.e. LL.B from University of London- External Program at SZABIST Law School.
  8. Internship Report of Zohra Wahab a student of law i.e. LL.B from University of London- External Program (SZABIST Law School).
  9. Internship Report of Shayan Effendi, a second year student of LLB (Bachelor of law) University of London External Program at SZABIST Law School.
  10. Internship Report of Kinza Shahid a student of law i.e. LL.B from University of London- External Program at SZABIST Law School.
  11. Internship Report of Misbah Khurshid a student of law i.e. LL.B from University of London- External Program at SZABIST Law School.
  12. Internship Report of Sana Shahzad a student of law i.e. LL.B from University of London- External Program at SZABIST Law School.
  13. Internship Report of Aamna Naim a student of law i.e. LL.B from University of London- External Program at SZABIST Law School.
  14. Internship Report of Muhammad Zayd Mustafa, a student at Brooklyn Technical High School, New York- U.S.A, who completed a short internship with our firm during his trip to Pakistan.
  15. Internship Report of Muhammad Aaqib Shahid student of 2nd year LL.B (University of London- International Program) at SZABIST Law School.
  16. Internship Report of Ibrahim A. Minai, student of 2nd year LL.B (University of London- International Program) at SZABIST Law School.
  17. Internship Report of Yumna N. Khan student of 2nd year LL.B (University of London- International Program) at SZABIST Law School.
  18. Internship Report of our first intern Muhammad Rahid Naseeb, student of 2nd year LL.B (University of London- International Program) at SZABIST Law School.
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