National & Provincial Law - Page 5

The Age Of Consent And The Borders Of Belief

ICT Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2025 marks a pivotal step toward a safer, progressive Pakistan KARACHI. Child rights organisations and advocates, along with concerned citizens, have warmly welcomed the passage of recent legislation on child marriages, describing it as a landmark step toward protecting the rights and well-being of children. “The passage of the ICT Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2025…

Laws and domestic workers

ON assuming power after his landslide victory in West Pakistan in the 1970 elections, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto introduced five labour welfare laws and brought in amendments in other laws applicable to industrial and commercial establishments. These laws pertained to the education of workers’ children, the constitution of a workers’ welfare…

LHC directed Punjab Government to revise Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929

LAHORE: Declaring the definition of ‘child’ in the Child Marriage Act, 1929…

Birth, Death Registration Fees Waived

LAHORE: Under the newly-enforced Birth and Death Registration Rules 2025, the local…

Moot Urges Joint Efforts For Implementation Of Law On Breastfeeding

SUKKUR: The District Advisory and Implementation Panel has called for devising joint actions for urgent implementation of the Sindh Protection and Promotion of Breastfeeding and Young Child Nutrition Act, 2023. Iqbal Detho, chairperson of the Sindh Human Rights Commission who co-chaired a meeting of the panel organised by the National…

Punjab Government Urged To Raise Minimum Age For Girls’ Marriage

ISLAMABAD: Participants of an awareness session on 1st January urged the Punjab government to raise the minimum age of marriage for girls from 16 to 18 years in the province to ensure a safe future for them. They were attending an event organised by the Potohar Organisation for Development Advocacy…

Guidelines On Women Protection High Court Orders Removal Of Male Staff From Shelter Homes

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has issued a set of guidelines to the Punjab government on the protection of women at shelter homes (Dar ul Aman), including the removal of all male staff, except essential officials, from such facilities. Justice Tariq Saleem Sheikh passed the instructions on multiple identical petitions…

Punjab Increases Penalty For Child Begging To 10 Years

Lahore: On 19 December, a Punjab cabinet meeting was presided over by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz. The cabinet approved an amendment to Punjab Vagrancy Ordinance 1958, under which punishment for begging children has been increased from one to 10 years. She also directed to further expand the scope of rescue…

NCHR asks Punjab to Check Misuse of Mental Health Law

LAHORE: Expressing its concern over the possibility of misuse of mental health law to curtail liberty of a person, the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) has directed the Punjab government to consider amendments to the Mental Health Ordinance 2001 as proposed by a woman activist. The NCHR passed instructions…

Govt Gets Six Weeks To Frame Rules For Enforcing Medico-legal Law

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) has observed that the enactment of the Sindh Medico Legal Act, 2023 was a progressive step, but it required implementation through rule-making and appointments. The SHC directed a committee, headed by the Sindh chief secretary, to ensure compliance with the law, frame rules within…

Christian Women Demand Divorce Rights

LAHORE: Christian couples taking their marriage vows in front of a priest gleefully promise to stay bonded in holy matrimony till death does them apart. Yet few would imagine the state taking the ceremonial utterance literally by disenfranchising married women from the universal right to divorce. The Christian community in…

School Privatisation Faces Stiff Opposition

RAWALPINDI: Government school teachers across Rawalpindi district held a complete strike on 24 September 2024 in response to the Grand Teachers Alliance’s call for protest against the privatisation of schools and changes to pension and leave encashment policies. The strike, which closed all government schools, highlighted the teachers’ firm opposition…

New Labour Code Draws Workers

LAHORE: The Punjab Labour Code 2024 has sparked widespread opposition from almost all major labour organizations in the province, which think that the new regulations would violate workers’ rights. The labour groups term the code a move that undermines job security, legalises exploitative labour practices, and imposes restrictions on unions.…

MPA submits child marriage restraint bill in PA

PESHAWAR: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz MPA Sobia Shahid on 7 June 2024 submitted Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Marriage Restraint Bill, 2024 to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly Secretariat. She said the bill was aimed to make child marriage a cognisable offence, adding under the bill, whoever committed the offence would be punished with…