Pakistan’s justice system gets notable budgetary boost in FY26
The Supreme Court’s budget for FY 2025–26 rises to PKR 6.645B from PKR 4.4B
Ali Hamza
Correspondent
Ali; a journalist with 3 years of experience, working in Newspaper. Worked in Field, covered Big Legal Constitutional and Political Events in Pakistan since 2022. Graduate of DePaul University, Chicago.
The Islamabad High Court has also seen a major budgetary increase, with its allocation nearly tripling from PKR 1.36 billion to PKR 3.9 billion.
Pakistan has notably increased its funding for the justice system in the federal budget for fiscal year 2025–2026, raising the total allocation by PKR 4 billion -- from PKR 8.402 billion to PKR 12.59 billion.
The substantial increase comes amid Pakistan’s low ranking in the World Justice Project's 2024 Rule of Law Index. The country was placed 129th out of 142 nations globally and ranked fifth out of six countries in South Asia in terms of adherence to the rule of law.
According to budget documents, the Supreme Court of Pakistan will receive PKR 6.645 billion for FY 2025–26 -- a sharp rise from PKR 4.4 billion in the outgoing year, marking an increase of nearly PKR 2 billion.
The Islamabad High Court has also seen a major budgetary increase, with its allocation nearly tripling from PKR 1.36 billion to PKR 3.9 billion.
The budget for the District Judiciary of Islamabad has also gone up. It will receive PKR 1.76 billion for the upcoming fiscal year, compared to PKR 1.25 billion allocated for FY 2024-25.
Meanwhile, the Federal Shariat Court’s budget has been raised from PKR 928 million to PKR 1.05 billion for FY 2025–26.
The government has also allocated PKR 1.46 billion to the Law and Justice Division Secretariat in Islamabad, up from PKR 1.04 billion in the outgoing year.
The Legal Aid and Justice Authority's funding has more than doubled -- from PKR 20 million last year to PKR 51 million this year. Similarly, the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan has been allocated PKR 159 million for FY 2025–26.
Support for legal institutions has also grown. Grants for the Pakistan Bar Council and Pakistan Bar Association have increased from PKR 607 million to PKR 700 million for the upcoming fiscal year.
In addition, the budget for the payment of fees to advocates and attorneys engaged by the government has been doubled -- rising from PKR 17 million to PKR 35 million.
The Federal Judicial Academy will receive PKR 339 million in the new budget, while the Council of Islamic Ideology has been allocated PKR 257 million, up from PKR 216 million in the outgoing fiscal year.
The overall increase in allocations reflects the federal government's renewed focus on strengthening judicial institutions and improving access to justice in Pakistan.
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