Your tenant has not paid rent in eight months. Someone sold you a plot that was never theirs. A relative owes you money and has stopped answering. Everyone tells you the same thing: file a case. Where do you go, what do you write, and what does it cost? Here is how a civil case actually starts in Pakistan.
What counts as a civil case?
A civil case is a dispute between people over money, property, contracts, or rights. It is not about crime. The police do not come into it. You sue the other person yourself.
The Code of Civil Procedure 1908 runs these cases. Section 9 says the civil courts can try all suits of a civil nature, unless a specific law bars them. So if your dispute is about unpaid money, a broken agreement, a plot, or a house, a civil suit is your route.
Which court should you file in?
Two questions decide this: which district, and which court inside it. The place comes from Sections 15 to 20 of the CPC. If the dispute is about land or a building, you file where the property is. For other disputes, you file where the defendant lives or works, or where the cause of action arose. Section 15 adds one rule: file in the lowest grade court that can hear the case.
The value decides the grade. A District Judge has original jurisdiction without any value limit, under Section 7 of the Punjab Civil Courts Ordinance 1962. Civil Judges only hear suits up to the limit the High Court fixes for their class. In Sindh, a Civil Judge takes suits up to Rs 15 million and a Senior Civil Judge without limit, after the 2021 and 2025 amendments to the Sindh Civil Courts Ordinance. The 2025 Act also moved pending original suits from the High Court to District Judges.
A suit against the government or a public officer goes only to the court with unlimited value jurisdiction, and is heard at the district headquarters. When in doubt, ask the district court registry which court your case belongs to.
How long do you have to file?
Do not wait too long. The Limitation Act 1908 sets deadlines for every kind of suit. For a breach of contract you have three years from the breach. For specific performance, three years from the date fixed for performance. For fraud, three years from when you came to know of it. File after the deadline and the court can turn you away.
If you are suing the government or a public officer, Section 80 of the CPC makes you send a notice two months before you file.
What is a plaint and what must it contain?
A plaint is your written claim, signed and verified on oath. The CPC lists what it must carry (Order IV and Order VII): the name of the court, your name and address, the defendant's name and address, the facts that give the court jurisdiction, the facts that show your cause of action and when it arose, and the exact relief you want.
The relief matters. Say the exact amount if you want money, and ask for an injunction if you want the other side stopped from selling the plot while the case runs.
A weak plaint can be rejected. Order VII Rule 11 lets the court throw out a plaint with no cause of action, one that undervalues the claim and does not correct it, or one that is barred by law.
You do not need a lawyer, the CPC lets you appear in person. If you appoint one, you sign a wakalatnama, a written authority for that case.
What does filing cost?
You pay a court fee on the value of your claim. The Court Fees Act 1870 sets the rates. In Punjab the fee is 8.5 percent of the value of the suit, capped at Rs 34,000. In Sindh it is 7.5 percent, capped at Rs 15,000. Each province has its own schedule, so check the rate where you file.
If you cannot afford the fee, Order XXXIII of the CPC lets you apply to sue as a pauper. The court decides if you qualify. Free legal aid is also available through the state.
What happens after you file?
The registry numbers your case and gives you a first hearing date. The court issues summons to the defendant with a copy of the plaint. The defendant files a written statement, normally within 30 days, though courts often allow more time.
The court frames issues, the questions the case turns on. Then comes evidence. Your witnesses give evidence in chief, the other side cross examines them, and you may re examine. Both sides argue, and the judge gives judgment. The final order is called a decree. If you win, you take the decree to execution under Order XXI to get your money or property.
If the defendant was properly served and still does not appear, the court can hear the case without them. But the court still wants your evidence.
A regular civil suit usually takes around five years from start to finish, often more, and appeals can add another three to six years, according to the Chambers litigation guide on Pakistan. The system is slow. File with your documents ready and your patience ready too.
Can you stop the other side while the case runs?
Yes, with a temporary injunction. If the other side is about to sell the disputed property or move it away, you can apply to stop them while the case is pending. An injunction granted without hearing the other side cannot last more than 15 days at first.
What if you lose?
You appeal. In Punjab, an appeal from a Civil Judge goes to the District Judge when the suit value is up to Rs 2.5 million, and straight to the High Court above that. An appeal from a District Judge's original decree goes to the High Court. The second appeal is only on a substantial question of law, and the Supreme Court takes appeals where the value is Rs 50,000 or more and the High Court varied or set aside the decision below, or where a constitutional question is involved. If your fight is with a government department acting illegally, the writ petition route is different and faster, because it goes straight to the High Court.
One more honest note: courts in Pakistan rarely award costs. Even the winner usually pays their own lawyer.
Can you file online?
Not yet, for most cases. Ordinary civil suits are still filed in person at the district court. The first real electronic filing arrived in 2026, when the Lahore High Court notified electronic filing rules for special courts hearing overseas Pakistanis' property cases. What you can already do online is check your case status once it is filed. More plain language guides on Pakistan's courts live on our blog.
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