optional · CSS study notes
📊 Facts & Figures at Every Stage — Pakistan (2025–2026)
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Purpose: Evidence bank for your criminal justice video and CSS notes. Years, jurisdictions, denominators and important limitations are preserved so the figures are not misquoted as a single national crime-to-conviction funnel.
🧭 Facts by stage
01 · Unreported crime
- 📌 Key figure: 51% of surveyed victims said they did not report crime to police; 49% reported.
- 📚 Source / period: Gallup & Gilani Pakistan, Aug 2025; telephone survey of 1,060 adults.
- ⚠️ Interpretation: Victim-survey measure, NOT 51% of all offences nationwide.
02 · FIR / cases registered
- 📌 Key figure: 1,120,711 criminal cases registered in Punjab in 2025. Reported national figure for 2023: 1,467,205.
- 📚 Source / period: Punjab Police annual report 2025; government crime-statistics series 2023.
- ⚠️ Interpretation: Different jurisdictions and years; no verified national FIR-refusal rate.
03 · Investigation / challans
- 📌 Key figure: Punjab 2025: 1,072,976 completed challans submitted; 1,102,724 accused arrested and presented before courts.
- 📚 Source / period: Punjab Police 2025 investigation report.
- ⚠️ Interpretation: Counts may contain cases from earlier years; not a same-cohort success percentage.
04 · Pre-trial detention
- 📌 Key figure: 82,988 under-trial prisoners; 75.09% of 110,513 persons in prisons.
- 📚 Source / period: Pakistan Prison Data Report 2026, NCHR / Justice Project Pakistan (Oct 8).
- ⚠️ Interpretation: Under-trial does NOT mean innocent; prison stock is not a bail-rejection rate.
05 · Prosecution / court backlog
- 📌 Key figure: 798,706 criminal cases pending as at June 2025; 1,415,668 civil; total 2,214,374.
- 📚 Source / period: Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan, January–June 2025.
- ⚠️ Interpretation: Snapshot of pending cases, not average trial time.
06 · Trial duration
- 📌 Key figure: A 2025 external country assessment stated some criminal cases take 5–10 years.
- 📚 Source / period: Australian DFAT assessment 2025, reported in UK country review 2026.
- ⚠️ Interpretation: Not the mean duration of all trials.
07 · Conviction
- 📌 Key figure: External in-country estimate for Pakistan: 4–5%; reported Punjab decided criminal cases 2024: 38%; Sindh 2024 about 2%.
- 📚 Source / period: DFAT 2025 country assessment; provincial reports as cited in prior compiled notes.
- ⚠️ Interpretation: Not standardized or comparable across offences/case denominators; never quote a definitive national rate.
08 · Gender-based violence convictions
- 📌 Key figure: Punjab gender-based violence outcomes: 4.88% conviction in 2024 versus 5.49% in 2023.
- 📚 Source / period: Punjab Gender Parity Report 2023–2024.
- ⚠️ Interpretation: Only the reported case category; not all crimes.
09 · Appellate reversal or release
- 📌 Key figure: No validated comparable national percentage identified.
- 📚 Source / period: Data gap in reviewed materials.
- ⚠️ Interpretation: Do not invent a 'convicts released on appeal' rate.
10 · Prisons and capacity
- 📌 Key figure: 110,513 prisoners; 68,832 authorized spaces; 41,681 above capacity; approximately 160.6% occupancy.
- 📚 Source / period: Pakistan Prison Data Report 2026, NCHR / JPP.
- ⚠️ Interpretation: Prison occupancy is a stock snapshot.
11 · Other prison indicators
- 📌 Key figure: Approximately 28,000+ drug-law prisoners; about 3,220 on death row; 86.2% of incarcerated children awaiting trial.
- 📚 Source / period: Pakistan Prison Data Report 2026.
- ⚠️ Interpretation: Category totals and age classifications must follow report definitions.
12 · Rehabilitation
- 📌 Key figure: Prison population increased around 50.1% from 2019 to 2026; national comparable reconviction/recidivism rate not established.
- 📚 Source / period: Pakistan Prison Data Report 2026.
- ⚠️ Interpretation: Prison-population growth is not a measure of recidivism.
📋 Rapid revision table
| Stage | Headline measure |
|---|---|
| 01 · Unreported crime | 51% of surveyed victims said they did not report crime to police; 49% reported. |
| 02 · FIR / cases registered | 1,120,711 criminal cases registered in Punjab in 2025. Reported national figure for 2023: 1,467,205. |
| 03 · Investigation / challans | Punjab 2025: 1,072,976 completed challans submitted; 1,102,724 accused arrested and presented before courts. |
| 04 · Pre-trial detention | 82,988 under-trial prisoners; 75.09% of 110,513 persons in prisons. |
| 05 · Prosecution / court backlog | 798,706 criminal cases pending as at June 2025; 1,415,668 civil; total 2,214,374. |
| 06 · Trial duration | A 2025 external country assessment stated some criminal cases take 5–10 years. |
| 07 · Conviction | External in-country estimate for Pakistan: 4–5%; reported Punjab decided criminal cases 2024: 38%; Sindh 2024 about 2%. |
| 08 · Gender-based violence convictions | Punjab gender-based violence outcomes: 4.88% conviction in 2024 versus 5.49% in 2023. |
| 09 · Appellate reversal or release | No validated comparable national percentage identified. |
| 10 · Prisons and capacity | 110,513 prisoners; 68,832 authorized spaces; 41,681 above capacity; approximately 160.6% occupancy. |
| 11 · Other prison indicators | Approximately 28,000+ drug-law prisoners; about 3,220 on death row; 86.2% of incarcerated children awaiting trial. |
| 12 · Rehabilitation | Prison population increased around 50.1% from 2019 to 2026; national comparable reconviction/recidivism rate not established. |
🚫 Statistical errors to avoid
- Do not say 51% of all Pakistani crimes are unreported; the 51% is among survey respondents who reported victimization.
- Do not calculate a nationwide conviction probability by multiplying unrelated Punjab FIR figures, prison data and conviction estimates.
- Do not confuse number of FIRs with number of crimes or number of accused persons.
- Do not infer a national FIR-refusal percentage without comparable national evidence.
- Do not infer that every under-trial detainee is innocent or every acquittal proves wrongdoing.
- Conviction rates must declare numerator, denominator, offence category, jurisdiction, outcome year and case cohort.
📚 Source directory / verification checklist
- Gallup & Gilani Pakistan — August 2025 victim reporting survey (1,060 adults).
- Punjab Police — annual 2025 case registration, arrests and challan statistics.
- Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan — Judicial Statistics, January–June 2025.
- National Commission for Human Rights / Justice Project Pakistan — Pakistan Prison Data Report 2026 (8 October 2026).
- Punjab Commission on the Status of Women — Punjab Gender Parity Report 2023 & 2024.
- Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade — 2025 Pakistan country-information assessment, summarized in UK government 2026 review.
🎙️ Suggested camera narrative
Pakistan's justice failures begin before courts: survey responses suggest many victims never report crime. For cases that enter the system, the quality of investigation and prosecution matters as much as trial delay. Nearly eight lakh criminal cases were pending in June 2025, while by October 2026 about three-quarters of prisoners were awaiting trial. National conviction-rate estimates vary sharply with definitions, so this is a warning about accountability and data quality—not proof that everyone accused was guilty.
🔗 Companion page
See the Issues at Every Stage child page alongside this page for the complete chronological list of barriers, elite influence, consequences and reforms.