How long do court cases take in Pakistan? What 20,358 judgments show

How we counted

FAI Legal keeps the full text of judgments from the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar High Courts and the Federal Shariat Court. On 12 October 2026 we read all 20,358 judgments that have full text and counted two things.

Time: every case number carries the year the case was filed at that court (for example C.P.L.A.110/2023 or W.P No. 519-M of 2021). We compared that year with the year of the decision. We could read both years for 19,563 judgments.

Topic: a judgment counts under a topic when its text cites the law or names the subject, for example section 497 of the Code of Criminal Procedure for bail. One judgment can count under several topics.

• Counted in years, not daysA case filed in December 2023 and decided in January 2024 counts as one year. So "within a year" below means the same or the next calendar year.
• Time at that court onlyThe clock starts when the case reached the court that decided it. Years spent in a trial court or a lower appeal before that are not counted.
• Decided cases onlyCases still pending are not in these numbers. The library also holds only the judgments the courts published, so it is a large sample, not every case.

How long cases took, court by court

Share of judgments decided within a year of filing at that court, and share that took more than five years:

• Islamabad High Court65.3% within a year, 10.4% over five years (2,966 judgments with both years).
• Peshawar High Court60.4% within a year, 10.5% over five years (3,965 judgments).
• Supreme Court of Pakistan52.1% within a year, 16.1% over five years (3,272 judgments).
• Lahore High Court51.5% within a year, 19% over five years (9,315 judgments). Some Lahore civil revisions filed in 2001 to 2003 were decided in 2021 to 2023.
• Federal Shariat CourtLeft out: only 45 of its 683 judgments carry a decision date we could read.

Which kinds of cases take longest

Property and contract disputes ran longest. Bail and other urgent criminal matters were the quickest. Share decided within a year, and share over five years:

• Inheritance29.3% within a year, 42% over five years (846 judgments).
• Specific performance of a sale agreement36.4% within a year, 32.6% over five years (980 judgments).
• Power of attorney disputes40.9% within a year, 27.3% over five years (761 judgments).
• Murder (section 302 PPC)41.9% within a year, 13.1% over five years (2,824 judgments).
• Writ petitions (Article 199)66.7% within a year, 8.8% over five years (3,359 judgments).
• Cheque dishonour (section 489-F PPC)82.9% within a year, 4% over five years (328 judgments).
• Quashing of proceedings (section 561-A CrPC)80.5% within a year, 4.8% over five years (334 judgments).
• Bail (sections 497 and 498 CrPC)97.6% within a year, 0.5% over five years (1,324 judgments).

How long do khula, divorce and family cases take in the higher courts?

Family cases start in the Family Court. These numbers cover only the stage in the High Court or Supreme Court, after the Family Court has decided.

• Khula55.2% within a year, 9.9% over five years (181 judgments).
• Talaq and the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance54.1% within a year, 14.2% over five years (233 judgments).
• Dower (haq mehr)56.1% within a year, 11.1% over five years (558 judgments).
• Maintenance59.2% within a year, 6.9% over five years (520 judgments).
• Custody (Guardians and Wards Act)78.4% within a year, 1.4% over five years (74 judgments).

What the courts write about most

Writ petitions under Article 199 of the Constitution appear in 3,382 judgments (16.6% of the library), murder under section 302 PPC in 2,970 (14.6%) and bail under sections 497 and 498 CrPC in 1,335 (6.6%).

Some topics are growing as a share of the judgments. Judgments that mention harassment of any kind were 1.1% of 2016's judgments in the library (11 of 960) and 3.5% of 2025's (73 of 2,086). The Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act appeared in no 2016 judgment we hold and in 12 from 2025.

What this does not mean

• These numbers do not predict how long your own case will take; that depends on the court, the bench, adjournments and the facts.
• They cover only the High Court or Supreme Court stage, not the time in the trial court before it.
• They count judgments the courts published and FAI Legal holds, not every case decided in Pakistan.

Questions people ask

Sources

• FAI Legal judgment library, 20,358 judgments with full text (count of 12 October 2026)
  Supreme Court of Pakistan, Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar High Courts and the Federal Shariat Court. Filing year read from the case number, decision year from the judgment date; topics found by the statute or term the judgment text cites.

Every quote and section above is traced to the full judgment or statute text by an automatic check that runs on every update.