Between Islam and the International Law; Practices of Pakistan’s Municipal Legal Order

Abstract

By academically examining several judgments of Pakistan's domestic courts, it is clearly traced that many international norms are contradictory with the domestic laws or courts’ verdicts in Pakistan (just because of Islamic teachings or religious culture). Although laws or norms within the customary international law consequently have two governing components; (i) acceptance from sovereign states, and (ii) acknowledgment by nations of this general practice as a law. However, this study finds huge contradictions when this principle has to be applied to domestic courts in Pakistan. As this contradiction or conflict is just because of Islamic Jurisprudence or Sharia Law, this study proposes that the municipal courts in the state of Pakistan may put up with judicial heed of the rules or norms of international law just as they do of international law.