Supreme Court issues practice direction on counting days in civil cases

Supreme Court has issued a practice direction for courts on counting days with respect to civil cases.

The practice direction signed by Chief Justice Muthasim Adnan publicized on Sunday detailed that in counting seven-day periods – the day of the commencement and end of the period will not be included, while government holidays will be included.

On the other hand, shorter periods than seven days will be counted without including the date of commencement and official holidays.

As per the practice direction, should the deadline to complete a specific task coincides with a government holiday, the deadline would be shifted to the next working day.

The practice direction also states that court-mandated duties, which are to be completed within a stipulated time frame, should include the date and time the subsequent submissions must be completed and submitted to the court.  

Supreme Court’s practice direction comes following the ratification of Civil Procedure Act which mandates harmonizing how days are counted with respect to civil cases.