Qisas and Diyat Ordinance 1990
Country: Pakistan
Year: 1990
Type of measure: Legislation
Form of violence: Sexual violence | So-called honour crimes
Level of government: National
Brief description:
Under the Qisas and Diyat law (Q&D), the victim or his heir has the right to determine whether to exact (qisas) retribution or compensation (diyat) or to pardon the accused. If the victim or heir chooses to waive qisas, or qisas is judicially held to be inapplicable, an offender is subject to tazir or discretionary punishment in the form of imprisonment. It is alleged that in these instances, judges not only have the power to determine the extent of punishment but also to decide whether to punish the offender at all.
Associated keywords:
Evaluation:
The National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) is a statutory body mandated to review the laws, rules and regulations adversely affecting the status and rights of women in Pakistan and to recommend to the Government of Pakistan appropriate reforms for it.
Taking cognizance of the steady increase in violence against women in the form of ‘honour’ killing, giving of women in marriage as compensation (badl-e-sulh), etc., the Commission initiated a subject policy research in October 2003. The research was carried on for nearly eight months. In the light of the Concepts of Justice in Islam and the Constitutional guarantees, it instituted a thorough review of the relevant provisions of prevalent laws
including the PPC, Cr.P.C., Qanoon-e-Shahadat, etc., judgements given by Courts at all levels, statistics/data obtained from police departments and Courts.
The Commission’s policy recommendations in this report are the outcome of this in-depth research and the opinions of the experts from different segments of life including the Religious Scholars, Religio-Political Leaders, Heads of Religious Institutions, Judges, Lawyers Parliamentarians, concerned Public Sector Officials and the Civil Society.
Sources of information:
CEDAW/C/PAK/1-3 paras. 484-486
Responsible agency/author:
Date information on this measure was last updated: 05-29-2012
