Environmental Law in Pakistan - IUCN

force mentions protection of the marine environment, but fails to establish any substantiverequirements for this purpose. There are no federal laws providing for the protection of mangroves,coastal forests and marine ecosystems, or smaller marine organisms and their habitats.5.1.7.1 Territorial Watersand Maritime ZonesAct 1976This law provides for the delimitation of Pakistan’s territorialwaters, contiguous zone, continental shelf, and exclusiveeconomic zone. The emphasis in this act is on the commercialexploitation of natural resources and on protection from intrusioninto Pakistan waters.Territorial waters lie “twelve nautical miles beyond the land territoryand internal waters of Pakistan” (Section 2). The contiguous zoneis the “area adjacent to and beyond the territorial waters andextending seawards to a line of twenty-four nautical miles” (Section4). The continental shelf consists of the “seabed and sub-soil of thesubmarine areas that extend beyond the limit of the territorialwaters of Pakistan” (Section 5), while the exclusive economic zoneis defined as the “area beyond and adjacent to the territorial watersthe limit of which is two hundred nautical miles” (Section 6).Sections 3–8 provide for the use and exploitation of resources withinthe various zones defined in the act. The law also mentions theprotection of marine resources, reserving for the federal government“exclusive sovereign rights” with respect to the continental shelf,including the right to preserve and protect the marine environment,and control or prevent pollution (Section 5(2)(d)).Although the federal government has the power to make rulesregarding the “conservation and management” of resources aswell as the “preservation and protection of the marine environmentand prevention and control of marine pollution” (Section 14), thelaw does not create an obligation to do so. Nor does the act containprovisions making it mandatory for the parties involved in theexploitation of resources within Pakistan’s territorial waters andother maritime zones to protect the marine environment.5.2 Court Decisions5.2.1 Qazalbash Waqf and others v. Chief Land Commissioner, Punjaband others, PLD 1990 Supreme Court 99This case, appealed to the Federal Shariat Appellate Bench, challenges those provisions of theLand Reforms Act 1977, Land Reforms Regulation 1972 and Punjab Tenancy Act 1887 that arerelated to restrictions on land holdings. The Shariat Appellate Bench ruling invalidates specificprovisions of these laws in their entirety, while other provisions are declared invalid with respectto specified conditions. The ruling leaves the validity of three provisions open for futuredeliberation.05NaturalResources41EnvironmentalLaw in PakistanFederal