In this article you will read about Pakistan Judiciary's integral aspect "Civil Judge", its job, criteria, rank, qualification, bps scale and salaries.
Pakistan's judiciary is a hierarchical system with two main classes of courts: the superior court, or superior, and lower court, or lower. The superior judiciary is composed of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the Federal Shariat Court, and five High Courts, with the Supreme Court at the apex. Four High Courts exist in each of the four federal territories as well as one for the Islamabad Capital Territory. The Constitution of Pakistan confers the responsibility for safeguarding, defending, and defending the constitution upon the superior judiciary.
The subordinate courts have (civil and criminal) been established with their jurisdiction limited by law. They are supervised and controlled by the respective High Court. However, the administration of justice is a provincial subject and thus the Subordinate Courts are organized and the terms and conditions of service of judicial officers are set under the provincial laws and rules. The issues of recruitment, promotions and other terms and conditions of service, together with disciplinary proceedings, etc, are dealt with under the provincial civil servants acts and the High Court rules. So far, the appointing authority for judicial officers happened to be the provincial government but with the splitting-up of judiciary from the executive, such authority has been transferred to the High Court. Recruiting as Civil Judge-cum-Judicial Magistrate is based on written exams and viva voce examinations, conducted by the respective High Court.
Read article about Preparation for Civil Judge exams.
How Civil Judges are chosen?
A Committee of the judges of the High Court, decides the issue of promotion of judges. quota is fixed for service personnel for appointment of Additional District & Sessions Judge as well as induction from the Bar. Appointment as a District & Sessions Judge is by promotion based on seniority-cum-ability from the class of serving judicial judges.
Civil judges-cum Judicial Magistrates receive specialized training at the Federal Judicial Academy and or the relevant provincial judicial academy after being appointed by the court. This training contains learning in various substantive/procedural laws, court administration, case processing, judicial procedure, and code of conduct, etc.
All Civil Courts are subject to the control and supervision of the High Court and are subordinate to it.; A District Judge has the authority to set over Civil Court cases within the boundaries of his state. Pakistan's civil courts are established by state government under the laws called the Civil Courts Ordinance 1962 which recognizes the following main classes of Civil Courts:
- The court of District Judge
- The court of Additional District Judge
- The court of Civil Judge
Civil Judge-cum Judicial Magistrate
Every town and city has numerous civil and judicial magistrates' courts. With these judicial magistrates, these courts have authority to deal with all the offenses except those which come under court of session but the maximum sentence for improvement awards is not more than three years. However, judicial officials with special powers under section 30 of the Code of Criminal Procedure are able to award all punishments except for capital punishment. As a civil judge in the state of Sindh and Balochistan, these courts have the authority to handle litigation in which the amount of money at stake does not exceed 50,000 rupees. In other provinces civil judges have limits to entertain first- and second-class suits. Judicial magistrates have territorial jurisdiction in police stations as per notification issued by the Court of Session Judge.
What are the Duties of a Civil Judge?
In magisterial functions judicial magistrates record statements of testimony under oath of witnesses, judicial confessions of suspects, holds identification parades, inquest proceedings of the prisoners. This court takes first attention to all offenses of local laws, disposes of unclaimed properties or movable properties suspected to be stolen.
Civil Judges are supervised by Senior Civil Judges appointed by the respective High Courts. Moreover, there is a notification for the powers and description of a Senior Civil Judge job duties from Peshawar High Court issued on November 27th, 2018.
According to this notification the job description or duties of a Civil Judge are as follows:
-
Senior Civil Judge (Judicial)
- Disposal of judicial work of civil nature including succession, Guardianship, Rent, Family, Insolvency, overseas Pakistani cases, environmental issues etc. and that of criminal nature already defined and elaborated in any local or special law enforced for the time being, High Court Rules & Orders and Judicial Esta Code, excluding all administrative work.
- Marking of all cases of Civil Judges.
-
Senior Civil Judge (Administration)
- Regular procurement falling in domain of Senior Civil Judge;
- Compilation and maintenance of data of Criminal and Civil cases and provision of information regarding all daily/fortnightly/monthly and quarterly performance and inspection reports of the district judiciary as required by the secretariat and High Court.
- All matters relating to Process Serving Agency (Nazarat Branch);
- All related matters of establishment of Senior Civil Judge/Process Serving Agency including recruitment, posting, transfer, promotion, disciplinary actions, attendance, leave etc and preparation of SNEs for creation of new posts;
- Stopgap arrangement of Court staff (as per necessity);
- Supervision of pay and allowances of the establishment of Senior Civil Judge and other allied matters as DDO in terms of Delegation of Financial Powers Rules, 2018.
- Preparation of Budget including pay, T.A Bills of the establishment of Senior Civil Judge including Civil Judges and contingency;
- All matters related to the accounts of Civil Courts including revenue deposits, sheriff petty Accounts, Minor’s Accounts etc and its regular transmission to the quarter concerned including documents preparation thereof;
- Auction of properties where necessary;
- Regular inspection of Judicial buildings/residential buildings, their maintenance & repair, security and maintenance of their proper record in the relevant registers;
- Stock taking of all movable assets and amenities of the Courts including handling and taking over of residential buildings on transfer of allottees.
- Subject to general control of District & Session Judge, supervision of Record Room, Copying agency, library, judicial lock up, Information Kiosk, and automation of Court record;
- Supervision of cleanliness and sanitation of the courts and judicial colonies, greenery and beautification and commercial activities in the courts premises;
- General Administrative input under supervision of District & Sessions Judge particularly to liaise with the judicial Officers, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Judicial Academy, PJC, Bench and other departments;
- Scheduling and arranging all monthly meetings including Criminal Justice Coordination Committee, Bench-Bar Liaison and Judicial Officers’ monthly meetings etc by taking requisite data and regular follow-up of the decisions;
- Head of Juvenile Justice Committee established under section 10 of the Juvenile Justice System act, 2018;
- Arrangements of training for the Judicial officers and staff at local level including workshops;
- Computerization of record and implementation of CFMIS;
- Subject to overall supervision of the District & Sessions Judge looking after the matters relating to official transport;
- Mechanism of Incentive and Reward policy under the overall supervision of the District & Session Judge;
- At the end of each month, ensure reconciliation of fines collected by the courts of Judicial Magistrates;
- To assist the District & Session Judge in supervision of the Oath Commissioner, Notary Public and Deed/petition writers with particular reference to their workings and fees etc.
- Channel of communication with the High Court and other Government departments;
- Maintenance of PERs and declaration of Assets of staff;
- Maintenance of English Files;
- Reporting loss and damage of the record through proper channel;
- Maintaining record of specimen signatures, addresses including contact number and e-mail of the Judicial Officers and staff;
- Maintain list of bail bonds / Sureties and its updating on daily basis.
- Any other administrative task assigned by the District & Session Judge concerned;
- Judicial work as assigned by the District & Session Judge concerned;
You can also download the copy of the notification for the Senior Civil Judge job description from here.
What is the Civil Judge-cum Judicial Magistrate Salary in Pakistan?
The salary of a Civil Judge varies from one province to another or according to his performance. The average monthly salary of a Civil Judge in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) is Rs136,000/- and starting pay scale is BPS-18, while in Punjab the average monthly income of a Civil Judge is Rs 163,000/- and starting pay scale is BPS-17. The average monthly salary of a Civil Judge in Sindh is Rs 163,000/- and starting pay scale is BPS-18. Civil Judges are allotted a 1300CC car or vehicle in Punjab and Sindh and a guard is also appointed for the safety of each Civil Judge in all provinces.
What is the Jurisdiction of Civil Judges?
The civil courts have jurisdiction to examine cases where statutory provisions have not been complied with or the statutory tribunal has not acted in conformity with the fundamental principles of judicial procedure.
Comparison of a Judge and a Magistrate:
Who is a Magistrate?
A Magistrate Is a Civil Servant Who Manages the Law in a particular area, i.e., District or City. The Word 'Magistrate' Is Derived from the Old French Word 'Magistrate', Which Means "Civil Officers in Charge of Administering Laws" Which Also Means "A Magistrate, Public Machinery". The Mandate of the Magistrate Is to Handle Minor Cases.
Who Appoints the Magistrate?
High Courts Appoint the Magistrate. The Jurisdiction of a Magistrate Is Smaller When Compared to a Judge.
Who is a Judge?
Judge Is a Public Official Vested with the Authority to Hear, Determine and Preside Over Legal Matters Brought in the Court of Law. A judge is a person who makes a decision. A judge is a person who abides by court procedures, either independently or through a judge's panel. In terms of the law, a judge has been described as a judicial officer who runs the proceedings of the court and considers several factors of the situation such as procedural matters that are the decided to hear and make decisions. Therefore, he is a Judicial officer appointed to hear and render judgments according to the law. The word "Judge" has been derived from the Anglo-French word "Juger" meaning "To form an opinion about." Also, from Latin "Judicare" which means "To judge, to examine officially, form an opinion upon and pronounce judgment."
Who is More Powerful than the Civil judge-cum Judicial Magistrate?
All Civil courts and Civil Judge perform their duties under the respective High Courts. The Judges of the High Court appoint the Civil Judges and are more powerful than a Civil Judge-cum Judicial Magistrate. They decide the new laws and appointments of the Civil Judges.
Who is More Powerful than a High Court Judge?
The Supreme Court is the most superior court of the country, and the final arbiter of legal and constitutional disputes is the Supreme Court. It is the most powerful court of Pakistan. The Chief justice of Pakistan is the Highest rank and the highest post of the judge in Pakistan. It is the highest level of judgment and all other courts in the country come under the Supreme court of Pakistan.
Who Created the Post of District Magistrate and When?
In 1772, Warren Hasting Created the Post of District Magistrate. At that time, he was the head of the revenue organizations. He was also responsible for the registration of land, division of fields, settlement of disputes, management of mortgages, giving loans to farmers, and drought relief, etc.
What are the Required Qualifications for a Civil Judge Post?
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What are the Required Qualifications for a Civil Judge Post[/caption]
The Qualifications for a Civil Judge Candidate:
- An advocate who possesses a degree in Law from a recognized university entitling him/her to practice the profession of law or is a Member of the Faculty of Advocates of Scotland.
- An advocate who has actively practiced the profession of law for not less than 02 years after having been enrolled as an advocate. (Two years’ practice as an advocate shall be counted from the date when the advocate enrolled himself/herself with any Bar Association under rule 7.10 read with Rule 7.12 of The Punjab Legal Practitioners and Bar Council Rules, 1974.)
Explanation
For the purpose of this clause: -
- The expression “practiced the profession of law” shall include any period of Government service by a person as: -
(i) District Attorney, Deputy District Attorney or an Assistant District Attorney; or
(ii) full time prosecutor authorized to conduct prosecution on behalf of the Government;
and
- To prove active practice the candidate shall declare by an affidavit (attached to the application form) that: -
(i) He/She had been actively practicing the profession of law during the two years preceding the date of advertisement; and
(ii) during this period, he/she had not engaged himself/herself in any other whole-time service, business or as the case may be, occupation for gain.
AGE
Not less than 22 years and not more than 35 of age.
The candidates are allowed age relaxation for six months in the upper age limit.
PAY
BS-17 plus admissible allowances.
QUOTA
- Three percent (3%) quota for disabled persons envisaged by Disabled Persons (Employment and Rehabilitation) Ordinance, 1981 and as amended by section 2 of the Punjab Disabled Persons (Employment and Rehabilitation) (Amendment) Act, 2015.
- Five percent (5%) quota is reserved for minorities in the light of Govt. of the Punjab Notification No.SOR-III(S&GAD)1-35/93, dated 27.03.2010.
Syllabus
The written examination shall consist of seven papers. A candidate shall answer all the papers in English except Paper VI(Urdu). Time allowed for each paper shall be 03 hours. The subject and maximum marks allocated to each paper are as under: -
| SR. NO. | SUBJECTS | MAXIMUM MARKS |
| 1. | Civil Law-I | 100 |
| 2. | Civil Law-II | 100 |
| 3. | Criminal Law | 100 |
| 4. | General Law | 100 |
| 5. | English | 100 |
| 6. | Urdu | 100 |
| 7. | General Knowledge | 100 |
| TOTAL | 700 |
You can also download a PDF copy of this advertisement. Here
How many Civil Judges are there in Pakistan?
The total number of Civil Judges in Pakistan are 936 as by 01-03-2023.
Here is the updated list of Civil Judges in Pakistan pdf download link (https://www.supremecourt.gov.pk)
This official pdf consists of a list of present service Civil Judges with their rank's posts and cities and towns they are serving in.