Criminal law concerns the system of legal rules that define what conduct is classified as a crime and how the government may prosecute individuals that commit crimes. In instances where an individual fails to adhere to a particular criminal statute, he or she commits a criminal act by breaking the law.
Criminal Law is an extreme field of practice coverning all those aspects that entail crime as its factor. Every act or omission that violates a command, derives its force from legislature or from authority – either political or religious – that has absolute sway over the matters of state is considered to be a crime. This is the reason that state stands as a prosecutor against the alleged culprit.
Pakistan has a very detailed criminal law that is though outdated to some extent but it tends to cover all aspects that do constitute a crime. To understand the criminal law in Pakistan one needs to understand the socio cultural phenomena of this country also. Most of the criminal law that has been prevailing in Pakistan was introduced by the British Empire when India was a colony and Pakistan was part of it. Even then a care was taken to understand the social conditions and criminal law was tried to be conditioned according to the cultural circumstances of the colony. This is the reason that it was willfully accepted by India and Pakistan both after their freedom from British Empire. Code of Criminal Procedure (V of 1898) that was implemented in colony is still largely the prescribed criminal procedure followed by the courts in Pakistan. Similarly the Penal Code (XLV of 1860) that was introduced in colony is still largely followed in shape of Pakistan Penal Code