A review of legislation enacted during the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has begun, with 74 PTI-era laws placed under scrutiny following the imposition of governor’s rule and an emergency in the province. The provincial law department has formed a committee to review the legislation and submit its recommendations to the competent authority within seven days.
Sources told Dawn on Tuesday that the review covers laws relating to 20 government departments. Those departments include prosecution, universities, medical teaching institutions and the powers and privileges of the provincial assembly. The scope is therefore wide, and it reaches into how the province runs its prosecution service, its universities and its teaching hospitals, as well as how its assembly governs itself.
The review also includes the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Prosecution Service Amendment Act, 2025. Authorities are reportedly considering possible amendments to that law, or its withdrawal. The choice between amendment and withdrawal matters, because the law shapes who prosecutes cases and under what rules.
PTI-era laws: why the prosecution act draws attention
The legislation has also drawn attention in the context of cases related to May 9, 2023, and how any proposed changes could affect the prosecution of those cases. Dawn reported that link as part of the background to the review, without stating that any change has yet been decided. Readers should therefore treat amendment and withdrawal as options under consideration, not as outcomes.
That caution applies to the whole review. A committee with seven days to cover 74 laws across 20 departments can only produce recommendations in that time. The competent authority must still decide what, if anything, changes. The seven-day timetable signals urgency, but it does not by itself change any law.
The review follows a period of sharp political change in the province. Governor’s rule and an emergency have already reshaped who exercises authority in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and the law review extends that scrutiny from offices and office-holders to the statute book itself. Laws passed by the provincial assembly under the PTI government are now being read again, department by department, to test whether they should stay, change or go.
What the review covers, department by department
Prosecution sits at the front of the list, because the Prosecution Service Amendment Act, 2025 is named in the report. Universities form a second strand, since laws governing higher education affect appointments, funding and academic governance. Medical teaching institutions form a third, since they link hospitals, medical colleges and health administration in the province.
The powers and privileges of the provincial assembly form a fourth strand, and that strand carries its own weight. Assembly powers decide what the house can do, what protections its members hold, and how it holds the executive to account. A review of those laws, during a period when the assembly itself is sidelined by governor’s rule, will be watched closely by lawyers and politicians alike.
Sixteen other departments are also covered, although Dawn did not name them. Until the committee’s recommendations become public, the full list of laws under review remains unknown.
How this fits the wider KP picture
Feature Pakistan has followed the province’s political crisis through a series of reports, including the governor’s rule visit to Peshawar and the house arrest questions around senior KP figures. PTI, meanwhile, has kept its KP protest on hold to protect workers, according to an earlier report. The law review now adds a legal dimension to a crisis that has so far been reported mainly in political terms.
For people in the province, the practical effects will depend on which recommendations are adopted. Changes to prosecution law could affect how cases move through the courts. Changes to university and medical teaching laws could affect students, staff and hospitals. Changes to assembly powers could affect how the province is governed once normal assembly business resumes. None of those effects can be judged until the recommendations are known.
