Straight answers, before you instruct.

1. Licence

   Is Syed Aun Mohammed Bokhari licensed to practise law in Pakistan?

   Yes. He was enrolled as an Advocate on 14th April 2001 and as an Advocate of the High Courts on 18th April 2003, on Punjab Bar Council enrolment number 21639, and he was called to the Bar of England and Wales by the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn on 10th March 2005. He is in active practice, the licence is current, and no disciplinary proceeding is pending.

2. Enrolment

   What is his bar enrolment number?

   Punjab Bar Council enrolment number 21639. It is published here so that it can be checked rather than taken on trust.

3. Supreme Court

   Can he appear before the Honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan?

   Yes, on the special leave of the Court. He is not enrolled as an Advocate of the Honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan, the licence held being Advocate of the High Courts; the Rules of the Apex Court permit an Advocate of the High Courts to be heard in a particular case on the special leave of the Court, that leave has been granted, and he has appeared there on it. He has also assisted the Attorney General of Pakistan before the Apex Court in customs and currency smuggling matters, including Collectorate of Customs v Khudhai Noor. Where a matter goes up, how it will be conducted is stated in the engagement letter before the appeal is filed rather than after.

1. AMLA

   Has he actually done cases under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010?

   More than 150 matters under the Act before the Special Judge Customs and Taxation, on the chambers’ own record, on both sides of the case. He was appointed Special Public Prosecutor under the Act in May 2017 and notified on 17th August 2017 by the Ministry of Law and Justice on the recommendation of the Federal Board of Revenue, and that appointment is current.

2. Agencies

   Which agencies and regulators has he dealt with?

   In casework the chambers appear before or against FBR Customs, the Directorate General of Intelligence and Investigation (Customs), and the Financial Monitoring Unit; casework is not claimed against the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan or the State Bank of Pakistan. Training is the wider record, and it is stated separately so that neither borrows authority from the other: extensive training on terrorist financing and money laundering has been delivered to the judges of the Special Courts throughout Pakistan, at Karachi and Hyderabad, in Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan and at Islamabad, taking in the Special Courts of the Federal Investigation Agency, the Accountability Courts and the Special Judges Customs and Taxation, and to the Special Investigation Unit of the Federal Investigation Agency, which deals with terrorism and terrorist financing.

3. Terrorist financing

   Does he do terrorist financing work as well as money laundering?

   The two offences are prosecuted out of the same machinery and the training record is chiefly in both. Extensive training on terrorist financing has been delivered to the judges of the Special Courts throughout Pakistan and to the Special Investigation Unit of the Federal Investigation Agency, and the subject is taught at the Federal Judicial Academy alongside money laundering, forensic science and commercial fraud. Where an instruction touches terrorist financing it is discussed in conference before it is accepted, since the conflicts position and the reporting duties are stricter there than under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010 alone.

4. Both sides

   Does he defend, does he prosecute, or does he advise on compliance?

   All three. The chambers conduct prosecutions under the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010 on the appointment named above; they defend persons and companies charged under that Act and under the predicate statutes; and they advise on the obligations the Act imposes on a reporting person, being the “Suspicious Transaction Report” and the “Currency Transaction Report”, targeted financial sanctions and screening, and the duties of the “DNFBP” and its “Self-Regulatory Body”.

5. Conflicts

   He holds a government prosecutor’s appointment. Can he still act for me?

   In most matters, yes, and the position is settled before anything else. A conflicts check is completed before any paper is taken and before any fee is discussed; where an instruction cannot be accepted it is declined at once and in writing, and nothing disclosed in the enquiry is used or retained.

6. Forums

   Which court will my matter be heard in, and does he appear there?

   He appears personally before the Special Court (Offences of Money Laundering), the Special Judge Customs and Taxation, the Customs Appellate Tribunal, the Appellate Tribunal Inland Revenue, the Honourable Islamabad High Court, and the Honourable Supreme Court of Pakistan on the special leave of that Court. If your matter lies somewhere else, say so at the first conference and you will be told plainly whether the chambers are the right people to instruct.

1. Appearance

   Who will actually appear at the hearing?

   Syed Aun Mohammed Bokhari, personally, in every matter and at every hearing. The brief is not passed to another counsel, and the counsel who will appear is named in the engagement letter before the fee is agreed.

2. Fees

   How are fees charged?

   As a fixed fee, stage by stage. The chambers do not bill against recorded time. Each stage carries its own fee: the opinion, the reply to the show cause notice, the proceedings before the adjudicating officer, the trial, the appeal, the reference and the writ petition. The fee for a stage is agreed in writing before that stage begins, hence you are never billed for work you have not first approved.

3. Rates

   Why are no rates published on this site?

   Chapter XII of the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Rules, 1976 forbids an advocate to advertise or to solicit work, therefore no schedule of rates appears here. The basis of charging is set out in full, and the figure for a given matter issues in writing on enquiry.

4. Scope

   Will I get the scope of work in writing?

   Yes, and before any work begins. No instruction is accepted on a conversation alone. The engagement letter states the parties and the matter, the scope of work stage by stage, the forums in which counsel will appear, the counsel who will appear, the basis of the fee and what it excludes, disbursements, the conflicts position, and the terms on which either side may bring the engagement to an end.

5. Extras

   What is not included in the fee?

   Court fees, process fees, travel where a matter is heard outside Islamabad and Rawalpindi, and out-of-pocket expenses, all of which are billed at cost, in addition to the fee, and itemised.

6. Travel

   Will he travel outside Islamabad?

   The chambers are seated at Islamabad and the High Court work is before the Honourable Islamabad High Court, but counsel travels where a matter requires it. The travel is billed at cost and is agreed before it is incurred, never after.

7. Languages

   What languages does the chambers work in?

   English and Urdu, in conference, in pleading and on the record.

8. Reply

   How quickly will I get a reply?

   A written enquiry receives a reply within two working days, at contact@mohammedan.law. Court commitments take precedence during sitting hours. The chambers do not publish a telephone number, therefore the first contact is by e-mail.

9. First conference

   What should I bring to the first conference?

   Everything that carries a date. The show cause notice, the First Information Report or the complaint; the order impugned, with the date it was issued and the date it was received, since limitation usually runs from the latter; the bills of entry, goods declarations, invoices and bank instruments; any notice or permission under Sections 21 or 25 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010; and the name of every other party, so that the conflicts check can be completed before counsel reads the papers.

Nothing on this page is legal advice, and no engagement of counsel arises from it. The terms on which the chambers are instructed are set out on the contact page, and the admissions and appointments behind them on the profile page.