Constitution 1973 § Article 268 — Continuance in force, and adaptation of certain laws

Statutory text (English)

(1) Except as provided by this
Article, all existing laws shall, subject to the Constitution, continue in force, so far as applicable and
with the necessary adaptations, until altered, repealed or amended by the appropriate Legislature.
1[* * * * * * *]

(3) For the purpose of bringing the provisions of any existing law into accord with the
provisions of the Constitution (other than Part II of the Constitution), the President may by Order,
within a period of two years from the commencing day, make such adaptations, whether by way of
modification, addition or omission, as he may deem to be necessary or expedient, and any such Order
may be made so as to have effect from such day, not being a day earlier than the commencing day, as
may be specified in the Order.

(4) The President may 2authorise the Governor of a Province to exercise, in relation to the
Province, the powers conferred on the President by clause

(3) in respect of laws relating to matters
with respect to which the Provincial Assembly has power to make laws.

(5) The powers exercisable under clauses

(3) and

(4) shall be subject to the provisions of an
Act of the appropriate Legislature.

(6) Any court, tribunal or authority required or empowered to enforce an existing law shall,
notwithstanding that no adaptations have been made in such law by an Order made under clause

(3) or
clause

(4), construe the law with all such adaptations as are necessary to bring it into accord with the
provisions of the Constitution.

(7) In this Article, “existing laws” means all laws (including Ordinances, Orders-in-Council,
Orders, rules, bye-laws, regulations and Letters Patent constituting a High Court, and any notifications
and other legal instruments having the force of law) in force in Pakistan or any part thereof, or having
extra-territorial validity, immediately before the commencing day.

Explanation.– In this Article, “in force”, in relation to any law, means having effect as law
whether or not the law has been brought into operation.

Source and verification

Source citation: Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, 1973, Art. 268: Pakistan Code portal consolidated official PDF 'THE CONSTITUTION OF THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN' (incl. 26th Amdt Act 2024 & 27th Amdt Act 2025), p. 134, 135, ingested 2026-09-15. Automated transcription from official source (pypdf extraction, audited artifact repair); human admin re-check required before production.

Verification status: verified · Text status: auto_transcribed_verified_source

The record cites an official source, but its transcription is automated or only partly checked; a human re-check is pending.

Official Urdu text status: pending_official_urdu_text. Where official Urdu wording has not been sourced, Qanoon does not substitute an unverified translation for the statutory text.

Historical text notes

1 historical record is linked to this section. Historical wording may be incomplete or pending verification; it is not presented as current law.

• Date not confirmed: Consolidated current text as published in the official Pakistan Code PDF (p. 134, 135) — reflects all amendments recorded in the official footnotes up to ingest date 2026-09-15. Automated transcription; per-amendment…

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