Judiciary of Pakistan has two classes;
- The superior judiciary
- Subordinate judiciary
The superior judiciary of Pakistan consists of the Federal Court of Pakistan, five High Courts and the Supreme Court of Pakistan as on the top. Islamabad Capital Territory has a separate High Court and on the other hand, every 4 provinces have their High Courts as well.
The Superior judiciary is delegated by the constitution of Pakistan with all the obligations to preserve, defend and guard the constitution. No jurisdiction can be put by the Supreme Court or a High Court in relation to tribal areas.
But, the borderline regions like Gilgit Baltistan or Azaad Kashmir, they have a separate court system. Gilgit Baltistan and Azad Jammu Kashmir are not constitutional parts of the country according to the constitution of Pakistan, both areas are not considered the part of Pakistan.
These areas are administered by the Pakistani government. Although, in 1948, Gilgit Baltistan affirmed its independence from Dogra or maharaja Kashmir and 1st November 1948 is considered the independence day of Gilgit Baltistan.
The Supreme Court of Pakistan consists of the chief justice and sixteen additional other judges. This court was established in 1956 in Pakistan judicial hierarchy. Moreover, the prerequisite appointment of acting judges and for ad hoc judges in the court. There is a permanent seat in-branch registries in Peshawar, Quetta, Karachi and Lahore and also a permanent seat in Islamabad.
The Federal Shariat Court has 8 Muslim judges who are appointed by the President of Pakistan by suggesting the judicial committee of the Chief Justice of the Federal Shariat Court and the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Out of these 8 judges, there is a requirement if some scholar or ulema as well in Islamic law. Mr. Justice Muhammad Noor Miskanzai is the current chief justice of the Federal Shariat Court.
The District court is present in each district of every province in Pakistan with criminal and civil jurisdiction. Whereas, there are several additional session and district judges who have judicial and executive power throughout the district under their jurisdiction. The trial court has another part to play that is concerning to murder cases, haraba offenses and rape cases or some robbery where some heavy amount or heavy robbery of gold is involved.
Now, almost every city and town has the court of additional session judges who have the authority under or over its jurisdiction. Criminal cases are heard in session court while civil cases are heard in district court and session judges are only involved in executive matters.
The court is started early in the morning. It takes to start from the hearing of pre-arrested applications that are followed by post-arrested bail applications. First judges take time to peruse the file of the case after the hearings, then decisions are announced later in the day.
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