BUSINESS LAW

BARRISTER KHURRAM RASHID

B A R R I S T E R K H U R R A M R A S H I D

 Lead Counsel at K-Legal Law Firm

 Ex-Partner at Surridge & Beecheno.
 A practising lawyer with 20 years of High Court practice.

 Corporate & Commercial Law, Intellectual Property Law and

Employment Law

 Author of various articles and chapters on Pakistan law,

published in internationally renowned publications such as
Pacific Business Press and Sweet & Maxwell
 Member Editorial Board of Sindh Balochistan Law Reports
 Lead trainer on the Advocacy Training Programme of Pakistan –
a project of the British Council and the Bar Council of England
& Wales .
WHATS IN THE NAME ..

 BARRISTER ATTORNEY (USA)

 SOLICITOR

 LLM ADVOCATE (PAKISTAN)

 LLB
B A R R I S T E R K H U R R A M R A S H I D

 SM Law College (8 years),

 International School of Business & Law (1 year)
 L’ecole Institute for Higher Studies (6 years)
 Sindh Judicial Academy
 National Accountability Bureau

 CAMS (12 years)

 The Law School (3 Years)
 Abeel School of Accountancy (3 Years)
 Escriber (3 Years)
 Themis School of Law (since 2017)

 Institute of Business Administration (since Jan 2019)

CONSTITUTION &

LEGAL SYSTEM

OF PAKISTAN
PARLIAMENTARY
HISTORY

 Prior to its independence from Britain in 1947, the area that is

now Pakistan was governed under the Government of India Act
of 1935.

 This Act, drafted by the colonial master Britain, functioned as

India’s constitution at the time and provided for a strong central
government, a governor-general with unreviewable powers, and
very limited representation which continued feudal-like politics.
PARLIAMENTARY HISTORY
– KING GEORGE VI
PARLIAMENTARY HISTORY
– THE VICEROY
PA R L I A M E N TA RY H I S TO RY

GOVERNOR PRIME MINISTER PRESIDENT

GENERAL
14/847 – Quaid-e-Azam Liaquat Ali Khan
11/9/48 Mohammad Ali Jinnah
14/9/48 – Khawaja Nazimuddin Liaquat Ali Khan
17/10/51
17/10/51 Sir Malik Ghulam Khawaja Nazimuddin
– 17/4/53 Muhammad
17 /4/53 – Sir Malik Ghulam Mohammad Ali Bogra
7/8/55 Muhammad
7/8/55 – Iskander Mirza Mohammad Ali Bogra
12/8/55
12/8/55 – Iskander Mirza Chaudhry Mohammad
12/9/56 Ali

23/3/56 – Chaudhry Mohammad Iskander Mirza

12/9/56 Ali
12/9/56 – Huseyn Shaheed Iskander Mirza
17/10/57 Suhrawardy
PA R L I A M E N TA RY H I S TO RY

GOVERNOR PRIME MINISTER PRESIDENT

GENERAL
17/10/57 I I Chundrigar Iskander Mirza
–16/12/57
16/12/57 Malik Feroze Khan Iskander Mirza
– 7/8/58 Noon
27/10/58 Ayub Khan
– 25/3/69
25/3/69 – Nur-ul-Amin Yahya Khan
20/12/71
20/12/71 Nur-ul-Amin Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto
– 13/8/73 (Vice President)
14/8/73 – Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Fazal Ilahi Chouhdary
5/7/77
16/9/78 – Mohammad Khan Zia-ul-Haq
17/8/88 Junejo (24/3/85 –
29/5/88)
PA R L I A M E N TA RY H I S TO RY

CHIEF EXECUTIVE PRIME MINISTER PRESIDENT

OFFICER
2/10/88 – Benazir Bhutto Ghulam Ishaq Khan
6/08/90
6/11/90 – Nawaz Sharif Ghulam Ishaq Khan
18/7/93
19/10/93 Benazir Bhutto Wasim Sajjad (18.7.93 –
– 5/11/96 14.11.93) / Farooq
Laghari
17/2/97 – Nawaz Sharif Farooq Laghari (until
12/10/99 2.12.97) / Wasim Sajjad
(2.12.97 – 1.1.98) / Rafiq
Tarar (from 1.1.98)
12/10/99 Pervez Musharraf Rafiq Tarar (until
– 20.6.01)
21/11/02
23/11/02 Mir Zafarullah Khan Pervez Musharraf
– 26/6/04 Jamali
30/6/04 – Chauhdary Shujaat Pervez Musharraf
26/8/04
PA R L I A M E N TA RY H I S TO RY
CEO PRIME MINISTER PRESIDENT

28/8/04 – 15/11/07 Shaukat Aziz Pervez Musharraf

16/11/07 – 24/3/08 Mohammad Mian Soomro Pervez Musharraf

18/8/08 – 9/9/08 Mohammad Mian Soomro

25/3/08 – 26/4/12 Yousaf Raza Gillani Asif Ali Zardari

22/6/12 – 24/3/13 Raja Pervaiz Ashraf Asif Ali Zardari

25/3/13 – 5/6/13 Mir Hazar Khan Khoso Asif Ali Zardari

5/6/13 – 28/7/17 Mohammad Nawaz Sharif Mamnoon Hussain

1/8/17 – 31/5/18 Shahid Khaqan Abbasi Mamnoon Hussain

1/6/18 – 18/8/18 Nasirul Mulk Mamnoon Hussain

18/8/18 – 8/9/18 Imran Khan Mamnoon Hussain

9/9/18 - Imran Khan Arif Alvi

PARLIAMENTARY
HISTORY

 Following independence, a constituent assembly was elected and

tasked with drafting a new Constitution.

 On 23 March 1956, after a difficult drafting process that included

the replacement of the assembly by the governor-general, a new
constitution was adopted.
PARLIAMENTARY
HISTORY

 It abolished the office of the governor-general and replaced

it with a president and prime minister who would share the
executive functions.

 In addition, it created a unicameral legislature with equal

seats for the East and West Pakistan, but it maintained the
central power of the government by ensuring that the
President remained powerful and the provinces never had
more power than the national government.
PARLIAMENTARY
HISTORY

 Before the country’s first parliamentary elections were to be held,

President Iskandar Mirza abrogated the constitution and
established martial law, appointing army chief Ayub Khan as the
martial administrator.
PARLIAMENTARY
HISTORY

 Ayub Khan was later elected president as the result of 1958 coup,
and on 1 March 1962, he promulgated a new constitution. This
document abolished the office of the prime minister, giving sole
executive authority to the President.
PARLIAMENTARY
HISTORY

 While Ayub Khan was re-elected in 1965, he was forced to resign

in 1969. General Yahya Khan replaced him, martial law was
declared, and the Constitution was suspended.
PARLIAMENTARY
HISTORY

 After East Pakistan declared its independence in 1971, becoming

the new state Bangladesh, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto took over the
presidency and established a new constitution on 14 August 1973,
current to date.
PARLIAMENTARY
HISTORY

 In 1977, army chief Zia ul-Haq staged a coup, proclaimed martial

law, suspended the Constitution, and established a Provisional
Constitutional Order.
PARLIAMENTARY
HISTORY

 Although the 1973 Constitution was revived in 1985, it was

amended to shift powers from the Prime Minister to the
President and to give the President the power to dissolve the
National Assembly.

 This amendment was also used by later Presidents to dismiss the

elected governments of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and
Nawaz Sharif in the early 1990s in the wake of corruption
charges.
PARLIAMENTARY
HISTORY

 Nawaz Sharif returned to power in 1997 only to be deposed by a

coup led by army chief General Pervez Musharraf two years
later, and then again in 2013, this time to be removed when
found guilty of charges relating to corruption and nondisclosure
of assets.

 In between, PPP formed the government in Centre and in Sindh

after the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.
PA R LIA MEN TA RY
HISTORY

 In 2010 the constitution underwent major changes, meant mainly

to prevent another military coup by limiting the powers of the
President and restoring powers to the provinces.

 The 18th Amendment also removed from the President the

power to dissolve the National Assembly and the power to
appoint military chiefs.
1973 CONSTITUTION

 The Constitution of Pakistan contains more than 250 articles,

and several important amendments.

 Imbedded in the document are certain key components of Islam.

1973 CONSTITUTION

 Pakistan now has a Federal Parliamentary System of government,

with the President as the Head of State and popularly elected
Prime Minister as Head of Government.
EXECUTIVE
BRANCH
PRESIDENT
PRESIDENT
PRESIDENT

 The President of Pakistan is Pakistan’s Head of State and is

considered a symbol of unity.

 The President approves the statutes passed by the National

Assembly and thereafter by the Senate.

 He guides the Prime Minister in the matters of national

importance.
PRIME MINISTER
PRIME MINISTER
PRIME MINISTER

 The Prime Minister is the Head of Government, and is

appointed by the President from the lower house of Parliament.

 The Prime Minister must be nominated and elected by a majority

of members in the National Assembly. That individual is then
appointed as Prime Minister by the President.
PRIME MINISTER

 The Prime Minister is assisted by the Federal Cabinet.

A council of ministers whose members are appointed
by the President on the advice of the Prime Minister.

 Federal Ministers are supported by secretaries and

other government officers appointed in each
department for ensuring that policies formulated by
the government are acted upon.
PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENTS

 Because the Constitution establishes a federal system of

government, it also created four provincial governments with
considerable autonomy.

 Each of the provinces has a governor, a Council of Ministers

appointed by the governor, and a provincial assembly. The
assemblies are elected by a direct vote, with reserved seats for
minorities.
LEGISLATIVE
BRANCH
PARLIAMENT
PARLIAMENT

 The Federal Legislature is a bicameral Majlis-e-Shoora

(Parliament), composed of the President, National Assembly
(Lower House) and Senate (Upper House).
SENATE
SENATE

 The role of the Senate is to promote national cohesion and harmony

and to alleviate fears of the smaller provinces regarding domination by
any one province because of its majority, in the National Assembly.

 Senate is a permanent institution. The election of all members is not

held at the same time and so it continues to be present on a permanent
basis.

 All statutes passed by the National Assembly are also approved by the
Senate with the exception of money bills.
 SENATE

Punjab Sindh Khyber Baluchi FATA Federal Total

Pakhtokhwa stan Capital
Territory
General 14 14 14 14 8 2 66
Women 4 4 4 4 1 17
Technocrats 4 4 4 4 1 17
Minorities 1 1 1 1 4
104
NATIONAL
ASSEMBLY
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

 The seats for the national assembly are determined on the basis of
population of provinces.

 The most important function of the National Assembly is law

making and formulation of policies.
 NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

Punjab Sindh Khyber Baluchi FATA Federal Total

Pakhtokhwa stan Capital
Territory
General 148 61 35 14 12 2 272
Women 35 14 8 3 60
Minorities 10
342
PROCESS OF
LEGISLATION
PROCESS OF LEGISLATION

 When National Assembly is in session a bill in respect

of any matter may originate in either house.

 If it is passed by the house in which it is originated

then it is transmitted to the other house and if the bill
is also passed by the other house (without any
amendment) then it is presented to the President for
assent.
PROCESS OF LEGISLATION

MONEY BILLS

 A money bill shall originate in the National Assembly and

after it has been passed by the Assembly it shall (without
being transmitted to the Senate) be presented to the
President for assent.
PROCESS OF LEGISLATION

ORDINANCE

 The President if deems necessary to take immediate action, he has

power to make an Ordinance when the National Assembly is not in
session.
 Such Ordinance promulgated thus, shall have the same force and effect
as an Act of the Parliament.
 The Ordinance shall stand repealed after one hundred and twenty days
if it is not presented or passed:

- by the National Assembly in case of Money Bill and

- by both houses if it is other than Money Bill.
JUDICIAL
BRANCH
SUPREME COURT
SUPREME COURT

 The Supreme Court is the highest judicial body, with original and
appellate jurisdiction over civil, criminal, and constitutional cases.

 It is the final arbiter in all constitutional disputes cases.

HIGH COURTS
SUPREME COURT

 There are 5 High Courts in Pakistan (plus one in Gilgit Baltistan

and one in Kashmir)

 They most hear criminal and civil appeals from lower judicial
forums, but also keep the provincial and federal governments in
check through judicial review.