A legal notice is a formal written demand sent before litigation. Most are sent for effect and are drafted accordingly - long on threats, short on particulars. A properly drafted notice does three specific jobs, and understanding them changes what goes into it.
What a notice actually achieves
1. It creates a date. For a great many claims, limitation runs from demand and refusal rather than from the underlying transaction. A loan repayable on demand, prompt dower, money held on account - in each of these, time does not begin until a demand is made. The notice is the demand, and its date becomes the date the clock starts. That is the single most valuable function it performs.
2. It is sometimes a legal precondition. Section 80 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 requires two months' prior notice before a suit is instituted against the Federal or a Provincial Government or a public officer in respect of an act done in official capacity. A suit filed without it is liable to be rejected. Several special statutes impose comparable requirements, and the Industrial Relations legislation requires a grievance notice to the employer within a prescribed period before the Labour Court can be approached.
3. It settles cases. A notice that sets out a specific, documented claim with a deadline resolves a substantial proportion of disputes without litigation, because the recipient can see what the case against them looks like.
What a good notice contains
- The parties, identified precisely - full name, CNIC or company registration number, and address. A notice to "the manager" of a company achieves nothing.
- The facts, in date order. What was agreed, when, on what terms, what was performed, what was not. Dates and amounts, not adjectives.
- The documents relied on, identified and, where helpful, annexed.
- The legal basis - the contract term breached, or the statutory provision engaged.
- The specific demand. An exact amount, or the precise act required. "Settle the matter" is not a demand and does not start limitation running on anything.
- A deadline - a reasonable period, commonly seven to thirty days depending on what is asked.
- The consequence of non-compliance, stated plainly and accurately: the proceedings that will be instituted.
What to leave out
- Threats of criminal prosecution to secure payment of a civil debt. This is common and it is dangerous - it can be characterised as extortion, and it undermines a later civil claim by suggesting the criminal complaint was leverage rather than genuine.
- Facts you cannot prove. The notice is a document the other side will produce at trial. An overstated claim in the notice is used to attack your credibility on everything else.
- Admissions. Anything conceded in the notice is conceded for good.
- Abuse. It reads badly to the judge who eventually sees it.
Sending it so that it can be proved
Service is what disputes turn on, so send it in a way that produces evidence:
- Registered post with acknowledgment due, and keep the receipt and the returned acknowledgment card. This is the standard and courts accept it.
- Courier with a tracking record and proof of delivery.
- Email to an address the party has used, in addition - useful, and increasingly accepted, but not on its own.
- Send to the last known address, the registered office, and any address specified in the contract for notices. Contracts frequently specify how notice is to be given, and that method must be followed.
Refusal to accept a properly addressed registered letter is generally treated as good service. Keep the envelope unopened if it is returned, with the postal endorsement on it.
Do you need a lawyer to send one?
No. A notice can be sent by the party. A notice on an advocate's letterhead carries more weight in practice, and drafting one properly requires knowing which limitation article applies and what the pleading will eventually need to say - which is the real argument for having it drafted.
If you receive one
- Do not ignore it. Silence is put to a witness as an admission, and the court is entitled to ask why an unfounded allegation went unanswered.
- Reply within the deadline, in writing, dealing with the allegations specifically. A general denial is better than nothing but far weaker than a point-by-point answer.
- Do not admit anything inadvertently - in particular, do not acknowledge a debt in writing unless you intend to, because under section 19 of the Limitation Act, 1908 an acknowledgment starts a fresh limitation period against you.
- Take advice before replying where the claim is substantial. The reply is evidence.
This article describes the general function and content of a legal notice in Pakistan. Statutory notice requirements vary by claim and by defendant. It is not advice on any specific matter; consult an advocate, particularly where a statutory notice period applies.