Senate defers honour killings bill despite warning that hundreds die every year

The Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice has deferred a bill seeking tougher action against honour killings, despite a warning

Islamabad:  The Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice has deferred a bill seeking tougher action against honour killings, despite a warning that hundreds of people continue to lose their lives to these crimes every year. The decision came after the Law Ministry raised concerns that some of the proposed safeguards already exist in the law, while the main problems lie in weak investigations, prosecution and enforcement.

The committee, chaired by Senator Farooq Hamid Naek, was considering the Criminal Laws (Amendment) (Honour Killings Prevention) Bill, 2026, moved by Senator Samina Mumtaz Zehri, who joined the meeting through a video link.

Senator Zehri said honour killings continued even after legislation was passed in 2016. She stressed that legal gaps needed to be removed and those who ordered, encouraged or helped carry out such crimes must also be held responsible.

She said the proposed amendments aimed to introduce stricter punishments, strengthen criminal responsibility and ensure that the state took an effective role in prosecuting those accused of honour killings.

The bill also seeks to address the role of jirgas and customary practices when they are used to encourage or support such crimes. The proposed changes aim to ensure that no person escapes accountability by claiming that a killing was carried out in the name of family honour or tradition.

The Federal Minister for Law and Justice, however, cautioned that several safeguards included in the bill were already covered by existing laws. He warned against adding provisions that repeat what the law already says and argued that the main challenges were failures in investigations, prosecution and the enforcement of court and legal procedures.

Committee members strongly condemned honour killings, saying that no custom, tradition or social practice could justify taking a human life. They stressed that the law must be enforced strictly and that society needed a major change in attitudes towards such crimes.

Members also highlighted the importance of enforcing the existing legal provisions relating to Fasad fil Arz, which concern serious wrongdoing and the need to hold offenders accountable. They said effective enforcement was necessary to discourage such crimes and ensure that those responsible faced the law.

After discussion, the committee deferred further consideration of the Honour Killings Prevention Bill at the request of the Law Ministry and Senator Zehri. Chairman Senator Naek directed the Law Division to prepare a detailed legal brief examining the laws already in place, the proposed amendments and the possible effects of making the changes.

The committee also deferred four other proposed laws at the requests of their respective movers. These were the Family Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2026, the Juvenile Justice System (Amendment) Bill, 2026, the Muslim Family Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, and the Federal Prosecution Service (Amendment) Bill, 2026.

The chairman further directed the Law Division to follow up with the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan to ensure that reports previously requested by the committee were submitted without further delay.