There are fivehigh courts of Pakistan, each based in the capital city of thefour provinces, plus one in the federal capital,Islamabad. Articles 192 to 203 of theConstitution of Pakistan outline the constitution of the courts, appointment of the judges, their oath of office, and jurisdiction of the high courts.[1]
At the time ofpartition in August 1947, the Lahore High Court, theDacca High Court,[2] the Chief Court of Sind and the Judicial Commissioner's Court in the North-West Frontier Province were deemed to be the four high courts of Pakistan.[3]
In 1955, the Dacca High Court and the Lahore High Court became the High Court ofEast Pakistan and theHigh Court ofWest Pakistan, respectively.[4] The West Pakistan High Court had benches at Karachi and Peshawar as well as circuit courts at Quetta (replacing the Judicial Commissioner in Balochistan) and Bahawalpur (replacing the High Court of Judicature at Baghdad-ul-Jadid).[5]
As the province of West Pakistan was dissolved in 1970, three high courts were established: Lahore High Court, Peshawar High Court, and Sind and Balochistan High Court (with its principal seat at Karachi).[6]
In 1976 the Sindh and Balochistan High Court was split into the High Court of Sind (Karachi) and the High Court of Balochistan (Quetta).[7]
In 1985 the Lahore High Court had Benches at Bahawalpur, Multan and Rawalpindi; the High Court of Sind at Sukkur; the Peshawar High Court at Abbottabad and Dera Ismail Khan and the High Court of Baluchistan at Sibi.[8]
In 2007, thegovernment proposed a fifth high court to cover theIslamabad Capital Territory.[9] This proposal was blocked by theLahore High Court, but the decision was overturned by theSupreme Court of Pakistan on 24 December 2007.[10] As a result of the18th constitutional amendment, theIslamabad High Court was established in 2010. The amendment also established the Mingora Bench of the Peshawar High Court and the Turbat Bench of the High Court of Baluchistan.[11]
| High court | Province | Principal seat | Benches[1] | Established |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lahore High Court | Punjab | Lahore | Bahawalpur,Multan,Rawalpindi[12] | 1866 |
| Sindh High Court | Sindh | Karachi | Sukkur,Hyderabad,Larkana,[13]Mirpurkhas[14] | 1866 |
| Peshawar High Court | Khyber Pakhtunkhwa | Peshawar | Abbottabad,Mingora,Dera Ismail Khan,Bannu[15] | 1901 |
| Balochistan High Court | Balochistan | Quetta | Sibi,Turbat[16] | 1976 |
| Islamabad High Court | Capital Territory | Islamabad | 2010 |
| High court | Territory | Principal seat | Benches |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azad Kashmir High Court | Azad Kashmir | Muzaffarabad | Kotli,Mirpur,Rawalakot |
| Gilgit-Baltistan Chief Court | Gilgit-Baltistan | Gilgit | Skardu |
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