LAW-GAT key terms

A written instrument by which a client authorises an advocate to appear and act before a court on the client's behalf, signed by the client and accepted by the advocate.

Conduct by an advocate that breaches the Pakistan Bar Council's standards of ethics, such as betraying client confidence or appearing against a former client, and which may attract disciplinary proceedings.

A bar on practising law imposed on a person who is convicted of a serious offence or otherwise unfit, enforced through the enrolment and disciplinary machinery of the Pakistan Bar Council.

An advocate entitled to file and conduct matters before the Supreme Court after satisfying the Court's enrolment requirements, including passing its examination and holding a certificate of practice.

The principle that Parliament cannot amend the Constitution in a way that destroys its essential features, such as the separation of powers or judicial review.

The power of superior courts to examine legislative and executive action and declare it void where it conflicts with the Constitution or exceeds legal authority.

An application to a High Court under Article 199, or to the Supreme Court under Article 184(3), seeking a constitutional remedy such as mandamus, certiorari, prohibition, quo warranto or habeas corpus.

The legal right of a person to bring an action because that person has a sufficient interest in the matter; in public interest cases Pakistani courts apply a relaxed test.

The defining characteristics of the 1973 Constitution, including parliamentary democracy, federalism, an independent judiciary and Islamic provisions, which are invoked when testing amendments.

A definite proposal made with the intention of creating legal relations, which becomes a contract once the other party accepts it unconditionally.

A statement or display that merely invites others to make an offer, such as goods on a shelf or an advertisement, and cannot itself be accepted to form a contract.

Unqualified agreement to all the terms of an offer, communicated to the offeror in the manner required, which transforms the offer into a binding promise.

Something of value, such as a promise, act or forbearance, given by each party in exchange for the other's promise, without which a bare agreement is unenforceable.

The rule that only parties to a contract may sue or be sued on it, although statutory and common law exceptions allow certain third parties to enforce benefits.

Consent given without coercion, undue influence, fraud, misrepresentation or mistake; where consent is not free the contract is voidable at the affected party's option.

An agreement that is valid until the injured party elects to rescind it, typically because consent was obtained by coercion, fraud or misrepresentation.

Failure to exercise the care that a reasonable person would show in the circumstances, giving rise to liability where a duty of care is owed and damage results.

A legal obligation to take reasonable care towards persons who foreseeably may be harmed by one's acts or omissions, established through proximity and fairness.

A rule of evidence allowing negligence to be inferred where the accident is of a kind that ordinarily does not occur without negligence and the thing causing it was under the defendant's control.

The claimant's own failure to take reasonable care for their safety, which reduces the damages recoverable in proportion to their share of responsibility.

Liability imposed on one person, usually an employer, for the wrongful acts of another, usually an employee acting in the course of employment.

The mental element of an offence, such as intention, knowledge or recklessness, which must be proved together with the prohibited act for criminal liability.

The physical element of an offence, comprising the prohibited conduct, its circumstances and its consequences, which the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt.

The offence of unlawful killing under the Pakistan Penal Code, classified into qatl-i-amd (intentional), qatl shibh-i-amd (semi-intentional) and qatl-i-khata (accidental).

The Islamic principles of retribution and compensation incorporated into Pakistani criminal law, allowing victims or heirs to waive or compound the punishment in certain offences.

The obligation of a party to establish a fact to the required standard; in criminal cases the prosecution bears it and must meet the standard of proof beyond reasonable doubt.

The bar preventing a party from suing again on a matter that has already been finally decided between the same parties by a competent court.

The set of facts that gives a person the right to seek a judicial remedy, and which must exist when a plaint is filed.

The written statement filed by a plaintiff in a civil suit, setting out the facts, the cause of action and the relief claimed.

A statement made outside court and offered to prove its truth, which is generally inadmissible unless it falls within a recognised exception.

A divorce initiated by a Muslim wife who seeks release from the marriage by returning her dower or otherwise satisfying the court, which dissolves the marriage.

The dower or nuptial gift that a Muslim husband agrees to give his wife as part of the marriage contract, which becomes her property.

The unilateral pronouncement of divorce by a Muslim husband, which must be preceded by notice to the Union Council and followed by a period of reconciliation.

The waiting period a woman must observe after divorce or the death of her husband before she may remarry, during which maintenance and certain rights continue.

The consensus of qualified Muslim jurists of a given era on a point of law, recognised in Islamic jurisprudence as a source of law after the Quran and Sunnah.

Analogical reasoning in Islamic law, by which a ruling on a new case is derived from an established ruling because the two share an effective cause.

The independent effort of a qualified jurist to derive a legal ruling from the primary sources of Islamic law when no explicit text is available.

The doctrine that courts should follow previously decided cases of higher or coordinate courts where the material facts are similar, ensuring consistency and predictability.

The legal principle or reason on which a court's decision rests, which binds lower courts in later cases involving the same principle.

A remark by a judge on a point not necessary for the decision, which is persuasive but not binding in later cases.