Every matter on this site, sorted by what happened rather than by the legal word for it. Each card says which office or court it goes to, and opens a page that shows the order it happens in.
Photograph: Waqar Mujahid
Search looks through everything. Each card says where the matter is decided: a court, an office, or a counter at a Pakistani mission.
One of these is a notice to an office. The other is a court case. Which is which decides where it is heard and who you need.
There are two ways a marriage in Pakistan ends, and they do not work the same way. One is something the husband does. The other is something the wife asks a court to do.
It is not over the moment he says it. Written notice has to reach the union council, a council is formed, and ninety days have to pass.
Khula is the way a wife ends a marriage. It is not a form. The wife files a suit, the court hears it, and the court decides.
Money for a wife and children after a separation. What can be asked for, from whom, and what a court looks at.
The money and goods promised at the marriage, and what happens to them when it ends. And what the rules are when a husband marries again.
Getting a marriage on record in Pakistan, and getting the certificate that other countries ask for.
What a court marriage in Pakistan actually is, what two adults need for it, and what happens afterwards.
The columns most people leave blank: the mehr, the right of divorce, and any conditions. Why an advocate should read the form first.
A marriage performed outside Pakistan, and what it takes for it to be on record there.
Violence at home in Pakistan: the protection a court can order, the police route, and how a family abroad can help someone who is there.
What still has to happen once the marriage has ended: the papers, the country you live in, and where a case about a child belongs.
Two names come up when a Pakistani divorce has to count somewhere else: the union council and NADRA. They hold different things.
The divorce has to be on record in Pakistan, and you need a paper from Pakistan that the country you live in will accept.
It belongs to one particular court, in one particular place, and the place is decided by where the child lives. Not by where you live.
Standing to act for a child, and how someone abroad gets it and keeps it.
A child taken by one parent to Pakistan, or not brought back. Which court, what it can order, and what to do at once.
When someone dies in Pakistan, the heirs need a paper that names them, and then the estate has to be divided.
The heirs need a paper that names them and sets out each share. There are two such papers, and which one you need depends on what was left.
Dividing land, a house or money between heirs who live in different countries, and what happens when one of them will not sign.
What a will can and cannot do in Pakistan, and how to write one that holds.
A woman’s share of an inheritance kept by brothers or signed away without her knowing. What can be undone.
All of these start with a record, not with a hearing. Ask your advocate to read what the record says today before you spend anything.
Pakistan has a court that hears one kind of case only: property disputes where one of the parties lives abroad. Much of it can be done without travelling.
Before anything else, someone has to read what the record says today. This page shows who holds that record in Islamabad and how to get a report.
What has to be in place before a sale, which papers the buyer will ask for, and what an advocate does at the registry that you cannot do from where you are.
Rent that stops coming, a tenant who stays on, and how a rent agreement is enforced when the owner lives abroad.
Allotments, plot files, development charges and possession in a housing society, and what to check before you pay.
What to check in the record before any money moves, what you sign, and how the buying is done for you when you are not there.
A property bought with your money and recorded in a relative’s name. What your position is, and what can still be done.
A gift of land or a house while you are alive: what has to be on record for it to hold, done for you from abroad.
Farm land left to itself: who is on it, what you are owed, what the record says, and how an advocate keeps it yours.
None of these is a court case. They are documents, and the question is which office issues them and what you have to do in person.
You choose between a power of attorney that covers one matter and one that covers everything. You have to sign it in person at a Pakistani mission.
Getting a Pakistani paper accepted abroad, or a foreign paper accepted in Pakistan, and who stamps what.
A formal letter before a case. What it is for, what it is not, and what to do when one arrives with your name on it.
Sale agreements, affidavits, stamp paper, and getting a deal on record so it holds later.
Selling or transferring a vehicle from abroad: the excise office, the verification in person, and the power of attorney that stands in for you.
Papers about who you are: nationality, cards, certificates, and coming into Pakistan.
Whether children born abroad are Pakistani, whether taking another nationality means giving this one up, and what happens to your family if you do.
Getting, renewing or correcting the papers NADRA holds about you and your family, from abroad.
Entry, stay and work in Pakistan for a spouse or relative who is not Pakistani.
The death certificate, the identity card, the family record, and what an advocate does for a family abroad.
The certificate immigration offices abroad ask for: who issues it, how to apply from abroad, and what to do when the answer is wrong.
Bringing the person home, the papers in Pakistan, and the welfare foundation for workers and their families.
Money that someone owes you, money that was taken from you, and a bank that will not move.
A loan, a deal or an investment that was never returned, and what a court can and cannot do about it from a distance.
Investment schemes, committees and deals that turned out to be fraud, and where a complaint goes.
A cheque that was not honoured, an account you cannot reach from abroad, and a bank that asks for papers you do not have.
A product or a service that was not what was promised: the notice, the consumer court, and enforcement.
Money paid to an agent for work or travel abroad: which agency takes the complaint, what to keep, and how the money is claimed.
A report to the police, a case against you, or harassment online.
What a first report to the police is, how it is registered, and what happens after.
Bail, protection from arrest, and having a case set aside, when you are outside Pakistan and cannot appear.
Threats, blackmail and leaked pictures on social media, and where the complaint goes.
The exit control list and blocked documents: who decides, and how an advocate gets a name removed.
Jobs in Pakistan, public and private, and the pay and pension that go with them.
Promotion, transfer, suspension, dismissal and pension for someone who works or worked for the state.
Unpaid salary, an unfair dismissal, and where a worker takes it.
Wages, end-of-service pay or compensation owed to a Pakistani worker abroad, and the Pakistani office that chases it.
A case that does not fit the other groups, a settlement out of court, or an appeal.
Declarations, injunctions and stay orders: what a civil case is, and what it takes to run one from abroad.
Mediation and settlement inside the family or with the other side, and how an agreement is made to hold.
A judgment against you, and how far it can be taken.
The police report, the two kinds of case, compensation, and why not to sign a settlement on the first day.
The commission and the welfare foundation for overseas Pakistanis: what they can move, what they cannot, and where an advocate still comes in.
A company or a trade in Pakistan, owned or run from somewhere else.
Registering a company or a sole trade while the owner lives abroad, and what has to be signed in person.
Opening a branch, liaison office or subsidiary of a company registered elsewhere.
Winding up, striking off and settling what is left.
The tax number, the bank account and the customs registration a business needs before the first shipment.
The forms a charity can take in Pakistan, what each needs, and how it is set up from abroad so that it can receive money.
Getting a business on the tax register and keeping it there from abroad.
Agreements with a party in Pakistan, and what happens when one side does not keep them.
Supply, agency, distribution and franchise agreements, drafted so they can be enforced.
Unpaid deliveries, a partner who walked away, and what a court or an arbitrator can do.
Appointing an agent or a distributor in Pakistan: what the agreement has to settle, and what goes wrong when it ends.
Your name, your logo and your work, protected in Pakistan.
Property that a business uses or holds.
People who work in Pakistan for a company that sits somewhere else.
Invoices, cheques and debtors in Pakistan.
When a business matter ends up before a court or an arbitrator.
Arbitration in Pakistan or abroad with a Pakistani party, and getting an award enforced.
Civil and commercial cases, injunctions and appeals for a business.
Money sent from abroad into a business run by a relative or a partner who now closes the books. What can be shown, and what an advocate does.
Nothing matches that. Try another word, or find an advocate and describe it to them in your own words.
The register shows who acts on a power of attorney, who has filed from abroad, and in which city.
We are a register, not a law firm. We do not take your case, and we do not give legal advice. Three things fall outside these pages on purpose.
Find an advocateWhat the country you live in asks of you after a Pakistani decision is decided by that country, not by Pakistan.
That is a third thing, separate from the court and the office, and not something we write about.
The register may still have an advocate for it, but there is no page here that shows the order it happens in.
