Constitution of Pakistan
The Constitution of Pakistan (1973) is the country's supreme law; this page lists its amendments, explains key articles and links to the text.
Can I download the Constitution of Pakistan?
Official National Assembly edition (as amended up to the 27th Amendment)
The official National Assembly edition of the Constitution, amended up to Amendment 27. It opens on the National Assembly website.
Other official sources:
- Constitution of Pakistan, consolidated text on Pakistan Code (with the 26th and 27th Amendments)
- 27th Amendment Act, 2025 (Gazette of Pakistan, 13 November 2025)
- 26th Amendment Act, 2024 (Gazette of Pakistan, 21 October 2024)
- Official NA edition (9th), as modified up to 21 October 2024 (includes the 26th Amendment; superseded)
What are the amendments to the Constitution?
Amendment 272025-11-13
Created the Federal Constitutional Court (Chapter 1A, Arts. 175B-175L), moved constitutional appeals to it, omitted Arts. 184, 186 and 186A of the Supreme Court's powers and amended Art. 243 on the armed forces' command (including the Chief of the Defence Forces, abolition of the Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee from 27 November 2025, a Commander National Strategic Command and the rank of Field Marshal).
Official textAmendment 262024-10-21
Added Art. 9A (clean and healthy environment), created Constitutional Benches (Arts. 191A, 202A), changed the Judicial Commission (Art. 175A), set a three-year term for the Chief Justice of Pakistan (Art. 179) and limited suo motu orders (Arts. 184(3), 199(1A)).
Official textAmendment 252018-05-31
Merged the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and extended the jurisdiction of the superior courts there.
Official textAmendment 242017-12-22
Reallocated National Assembly seats among the provinces, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and the Federal Capital, and allowed the allocation for the 2018 elections to use provisional 2017 census results (Art. 51).
Official textAmendment 232017-03-30
Revived the special measures for trying certain terrorism-related offences under the Army Act for another two years, until 6 January 2019.
Official textAmendment 222016-06-08
Changed the qualifications and appointment procedure for the Election Commission's members (Art. 213) and made related changes to Arts. 81 and 215.
Official textAmendment 212015-01-07
Allowed military courts to try certain terrorism-related offences for two years.
Official textAmendment 202012-02-28
Strengthened the Election Commission: extended the Chief Election Commissioner's provisions to its members (Arts. 214-216) and changed the caretaker-government arrangements (Arts. 48, 224, 224A).
Official textAmendment 192011-01-01
Changed the make-up of the Judicial Commission and the role of the parliamentary committee in judges' appointments (Art. 175A) and extended the references to High Courts to include the Islamabad High Court (Arts. 81, 175).
Official textAmendment 182010-04-19
Major reform: expanded provincial autonomy, removed the President's power to dissolve the National Assembly, renamed the North-West Frontier Province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, added Art. 10A (fair trial) and Art. 19A (right to information), and recast the judicial appointments process (Art. 175A).
Official textAmendment 172003-12-31
Provided a one-time vote of confidence in the President (Art. 41), required a reference to the Supreme Court after the dissolution of an Assembly (Arts. 58(3), 112(3)), omitted the National Security Council (Art. 152A) and set the retiring ages of Supreme Court (65) and High Court (62) judges (Arts. 179, 195).
Official textAmendment 161999-08-03
Extended the period of the job quota system for federal service from twenty to forty years (Art. 27(1), first proviso).
Official textAmendment 141997-07-03
Added anti-defection rules: a member of a parliamentary party who defects can be disqualified (Art. 63A).
Official textAmendment 131997-04-03
Removed the President's power to dissolve the National Assembly (Art. 58(2)(b)) and the Governor's power to dissolve a Provincial Assembly (Art. 112(2)(b)), and made Governors' appointment and certain service-chief appointments subject to the Prime Minister's advice (Arts. 101, 243).
Official textAmendment 121991-07-27
Provided for Speedy Trial Courts for three years (Art. 212B) and made related changes.
Official textAmendment 101987-03-25
Reduced the minimum number of working days the National Assembly must meet in a year from 160 to 130 (Art. 61) and the minimum days of a session from sixty to thirty (Art. 54(2) proviso).
Official textAmendment 81985-11-09
Added major presidential powers, including dissolving the National Assembly (Art. 58(2)(b)), and gave constitutional cover to earlier martial-law acts (Art. 270A).
Official textAmendment 71977-05-16
Allowed the Prime Minister to seek a vote of confidence from the people by referendum (new Art. 96A); that section ceased to be in force on 30 September 1977.
Official textAmendment 61976-12-31
Allowed a Chief Justice of the Supreme Court or a High Court who reaches 65 (Supreme Court) or 62 (High Court) before finishing his fixed term to stay in office until the term ends (Arts. 179(6), 195(6)); also amended Arts. 246 and 260.
Official textAmendment 51976-09-13
Fixed terms for the Chief Justices of the Supreme Court (five years) and High Courts (four years), widened the bar on High Court bail and interim orders (Art. 199(3A)-(3C)) and provided for separate High Courts for Sindh and Balochistan (Art. 192).
Official textAmendment 41975-11-21
Added reserved National Assembly seats for non-Muslim minorities (Art. 51), barred High Courts from granting bail or stopping detention orders under preventive-detention laws (Art. 199(3A)) and limited the life of some interim orders to sixty days (Art. 199(4A)).
Official textAmendment 31975-02-13
Extended the maximum period of preventive detention before review (Art. 10), widened the grounds in Art. 10(7) and changed how Parliament may disapprove an emergency proclamation (Art. 232).
Official textAmendment 21974-09-17
Added a definition of a person who is not a Muslim for the purposes of the Constitution and law (Art. 260(3)) and named the Quadiani/Lahori group (Ahmadis) among the non-Muslim communities with reserved provincial seats (Art. 106(3)).
Official textAmendment 11974-05-04
Redefined Pakistan's territories after the separation of East Pakistan (Art. 1), recast the rules on political parties (Art. 17), barred High Court writs on armed-forces service matters (Art. 199(3)) and made other changes.
Official text
The 9th, 11th and 15th amendment bills lapsed and never became law.