Definition
Strict enforcement of laws, especially for controlling crime or State of society where vast majority of population respects the rule of law, and where the law enforcement agencies observe laws that limit their powers. Maintaining law and order implies firm dealing with occurrences of theft, violence, and disturbance of peace, and rapid enforcement of penalties imposed under criminal law.
Importance of Law and Order
Wherever people have lived together, they have found it necessary to develop rules of conduct. They need rules for the settlement of disputes. They also need rules for the organization of their governments. Law is the set of rules that the government enforces through its police, its courts, and its other agencies. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee demonstrates the importance of law in our communities, especially criminal law.
Law makes it possible for men to live together peaceably in a community. If there were no law, every man could do just as he pleased, with law; the people in a community know that the government will enforce rules that will make it possible for them to live together without conflict. The philosophy or science of law is called jurisprudence.
There are two main kinds of laws. Civil or public law helps settle disputes between people or companies. Criminal law deals with crimes, or actions that cause serious harm to an individual or group.
Public law is the body of rules in which the government is directly involved. Public law regulates the relationships between individuals and the government. One group of rules in public law defines and limits the powers of the government. The part of public law most familiar to many persons is criminal law, which is the body of rules that we are commanded to obey. The government may fine those who do not obey, send them to jail, or even execute them.
A number of smaller groups of rules also come under the general heading of public law. International law is concerned with agreements among nations, problems of boundaries, and other questions arising from the relationships of one country with another. Constitutional law deals with the problems that have arisen about various clauses in the United States Constitution. Problems in constitutional law include the organization of the government and the guarantees of our liberties. Administrative law is the body of rules made by administrative or executive agencies of government. The Interstate Commerce Commission, the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Federal Communications Commission are all examples of such an agency.
Civil law includes the rules that regulate the relationships among people. Private law includes many smaller groups of rules. Some examples are the rules relating to contracts, personal injuries, and real estate. Most people think of only criminal law when they hear the word law. However, most lawyers and courts spend most of their time dealing with problems of private
law. These private law problems include taxation, business affairs, the transfer of property, and the collection of money for people injured through the fault of others. Cases or proceedings in civil courts are often called lawsuits.
Every independent country has its own legal system. The systems vary according to each country's social traditions and form of government. However, most systems can be classed as either a common-law system or a civil-law system. The United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and other English-speaking countries have a common-law system. Most other countries have a civil-law system. Many countries combine features of both systems.
Law enforcement is one of the most important ways a government has of protecting its citizens. It usually refers to the action of police and the courts in catching and punishing criminals. However, a broad use of the term also includes the administration of justice in all law cases by the courts. Law enforcement is necessary to maintain order in a community, state, or country.
From Pakistan: Some Basic Facts and Law and Order Situation
The Islamic Republic of Pakistan came into being on August 14, 1947. Pakistan has a strategic location in South Asia, surrounded by India, China, Afghanistan and Iran. Pakistan has a total area of 803,940 sq. km and an estimated population of 170 million. Pakistan is a federation, with four federating units, called Provinces, namely, Punjab, Sindh, North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Baluchistan. The capital is Islamabad, and the tribal belt adjoining the NWFP is managed by the Federal Government and is know as FATA i.e; Federally Administered Tribal Areas. Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas have their own political system, yet certain of their subjects are taken care of by the Federal Government through the Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Northern Areas. The Provinces are further divided into Divisions and Districts. The basic administrative unit is a district, being governed by the District Nazim, popularly elected, who is supported by a senior civil officer called District Coordination Officer (DCO) and the District Police Officer (DPO) in the smooth running of the local government, rather a new system introduced by the President Pervez Musharraf regime in 2000 and 2002.
Pakistan has a parliamentary form of government, and the Parliament consists of two Houses, i.e.; the Senate (Upper House), giving equal representation to all Provinces, and the national Assembly (Lower House), representing the nation on population and direct adult voting system. The Senate is a permanent legislative body and consists of 100 members. The National Assembly has a total of 342 elected members (272 general seats, 60 women seats and 10 non-Muslims (minority) seats). The President is the Head of State and the Prime Minister is the Head of Government. The Provinces have their own Provincial Assemblies, the Chief Minister, and a Governor, who is a nominee of the Federal Government through the President of Pakistan.
Law and Order situation in Pakistan
After 9/11, the US/Nato forces invaded and bombard the Afghan nation, sometimes indiscriminately, which led to the desired goal of destruction of Taliban rule in Afghanistan, but in addition, gave rise to a lot of internal and external problems for Pakistan: the economy, internal security environment and social tranquility jolted badly due to such problems. The spill-over effect of Taliban from Afghanistan into the tribal belt of Pakistan has been under continuous discussion in the western media and US administration, both civilian and military departments. Right from the every day reports of various research institutes in USA and news stories of Washington Post, the New York Times, etc to the well-researched analysis and reports of EUROPOL (TE-SAT,EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report and Council on Foreign Relations report on ‘Securing Pakistan’s Tribal Belt (Daniel Markey), Pakistan remains in the mainstream of our debate on war on terror. Pakistan has deployed more than 90,000 security forces on the Pakistani side of Afghan border, with more than 900 check points to stop cross border movement of Afghan-Taliban and other miscreants. Pakistan received a death toll of 1200 security forces in tribal areas during the ongoing war on terror and hundreds of civilians and police in the settled/urban districts.
The general public has greater grievances against the western nations, especially the USA which alongwith Nato forces carries out unnecessary airstrikes on Pakistan tribal areas, on the pretext of ‘actionanble-intelligence’ against Al-Qaeda stalwarts, the results of which have never been tangible and visible. Rather, the illiterate tribal people and other population of the country take it for unwarranted instigation and looking for lame excuses to attack Pakistan’s tribal territories, most often, allegedly pushed by some unfriendly elements. Pakistan’s tribal areas (seven Tribal Agencies and six Frontier Regions) are usually described by the US as ‘safe-haven’ for Al-Qaeda, which is strongly rebutted by the government and general masses. There might be some Afghan-Taliban elements in these areas, who might have been hiding in the rugged mountains of the tribal belt, but it is not acceptable that they can visibly operates or organize their activities in any part therein. The US/Nato airstikes on Pakistan’s tribal areas have never been a success in chasing and hitting any high valued target so far. All their claims are debated and challenged. Some times innocent children, women and Pakistan’s security forces are hit and killed, as often happen in Afghanistan as a result of ‘unintentional’ and ‘friendly fire’! Unfortunately, no one has undeniable facts and figures about the various kinds of Taliban and there is no good research about their organization, structure, style finances, strength, weaknesses and gradual infiltration, tactical retreat and resurgence.
This development at the international scene has made things worse for the Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) in the country, especially the police who have never been trained and equipped to deal with terrorist activities suicide bombing and IEDs. The unofficial statistics for terrorist activities are much higher than the official figures. However, we still rely on the statistics provided by the National Police Bureau in its report on National Public Safety Commission.
A CAR bomb killed 17 people including women and children and wounded dozens more when it exploded near a bus queue at a market in northwest Pakistan Monday, officials said.
• Murder: showed a rise of 266 (2.7%) cases in the country including 22 (0.4%) cases in Punjab; 151 (8.2%) cases in Sindh; 50 (2.3%) cases in NWFP; 34 (11.7%) cases in Baluchistan and 38 (48.7%) cases in AJK while there was a decrease of 34 (26.8%) cases in Northern Areas.
• Attempt to Murder: rise by 691 (5.3%) cases in the country; 371 (5.2%) cases in Punjab; 143 (5.9%) cases in Sindh; 102 (3.9%) cases in NWFP; 64 (22.1%) cases in Baluchistan; 31 (29.2%) cases in Islamabad and 32 (9.3%) cases in AJK while there occurred a decrease of 59 (42.1 %) cases in Northern Areas.
• Assault on Public Servants: increased by 700 (21%) cases in the country including 235 (19.1%) cases in Punjab; 409 (31.1%) cases in Sindh; 21 (5.9%) cases in NWFP; 8 (5.4%) cases in Baluchistan and 45 (42.1%) cases in AJK while there occurred a decrease of 10 (10.6%) cases in Northern Areas.
• Zina: crime recorded under this head rise by 116 (5.8%) cases in the country; 80 (5.7%) cases in Punjab; 60 (30.8%) cases in Sindh and 11 (15.3%) cases in Islamabad while there was a fall of 13 (19.7%) cases in Baluchistan and 14 (66.7%) cases in Northern Areas.
• Kidnapping/Abduction: showed an increase of 1320 (15%) cases in the country; 1052 (15.3%) cases in Punjab; 98 (7.7%) cases in Sindh: 52 (11.5%) cases in NWFP; 53 (59.6%) cases id Baluchistan; 8 (72.7%) cases in Islamabad. 12 (100%) in Northern Areas and 50 (44.6%) cases in AJK.
• Suicide: showed a rise of 24 (14.6%) cases in the country. There was an increase of 9 (225%) cases in Punjab and 15(11.1%) cases in Sindh.
• Motor Vehicle Theft/Snatching: increased by 3056 (18.7%) cases in the country including 1587 (16.6%) cases in Punjab; 1107 (20.9%) cases in Sindh; 64 (12.6%) cases in NWFP; 181 (41%) cases in Baluchistan; 93 (22.9%) cases in Islamabad; 11 (57.9%) cases in Northern Areas and 9 (10.2%) cases in AJK.
• Highway Robbery: rise by 63 (41.2%) cases in the country; 43 (34.4%) cases in Punjab; 10 (76.9%) cases in Sindh and 10 cases in NWFP.
• Other Robbery: showed a rise of 2411 (19.7%) cases in the country; 1640 (18.7%) cases in Punjab; 722 (23.8%) cases in Sindh and 70 (89.7%) cases in Islamabad while there occurred a decrease of 16 (11.9%) cases in NWFP and 7(11.5%) cases in AJK.
Some other uncertain issues regarding law and order in Pakistan is since our country came into being existence it is facing political and law and order uncertainty. The strategic location of Pakistan is very important in its neighbors are atomic power India, Russia and China. Uncertainty in Pakistan is affecting the entire region. After 9/11 the law and order uncertainty increased in Pakistan. Pakistan is a very close partner of U.S.A in war against terror and fighting against terrorists and militants for which the price people of Pakistan are paying price. Since last few years thousands of innocent Pakistanis are dies in different Bomb explosions and suicide attacks. The fight between major political parties is affecting the peace of country.
The Target killing in Karachi is exceeding day by day many civilians are daily dying in target killing. The current law and order situation in Karachi is very poor due to those investors to taking out the investments. The rate of foreign investments Karachi is reduced due to unfortunate law and order situation. Even local investors are under great threat and fear while working in Karachi. The incidents of mobile phone snatching, robbery, target killing are getting double with every passing day in Karachi. People don’t feel safe when they come out from their homes for working. There is wave of fear in Karachi which is hijacking the life of people living in Karachi.
The law and order situation in Baluchistan is also pitiable and alarming. There is no rite of Govt. in Baluchistan. Almost daily many target killing incidents are being observed in Baluchistan. Since last couple of years many bomb explosions are observed in Quetta in which local civilians are died. The Law and order situation in Khaber Pakhutun Khawa is very hazardous. Since last few years thousands of people are died in Khaber Pakhtun Khawa in Suicide bombings. People of Pakistan are feeling a consistent risk of security. Same situation is in Punjab it is also not safe from terrorist. It is an alarming situation for the Govt. of Pakistan that its people couldn’t freely move in their own country. Govt. needs to take serious steps to improve the law and doer situation in country.
It is also possible that sectarian violence may worsen in Pakistan after Nato troops depart from Afghanistan. The same happened after the militancy subsided in the Indian-controlled Kashmir when militants returned to Pakistan and Afghanistan searching for new causes. Shias have always proven to be an easy target.
References
http://www.bookrags.com/essay-2003/5/18/165957/064/
http://www.defendpakistan.com/uncertain-law-and-order-situation-in-pakistan/
