ضابطہ دیوانی
Civil code; civil procedure code; the body of laws, rules, and regulations governing civil disputes (non criminal matters) such as contracts, property, torts, inheritance, marriage, divorce, and family law. ضابطہ (zabita) is the Urdu noun meaning code, rule, regulation, statute, or ordinance, derived from the Arabic root ض ب ط (d b t), meaning to control, to regulate, to record. دیوانی (dewani) is an adjective meaning civil (as opposed to criminal), derived from the Persian "دیوان" (dewan, a court, a council, a collection of poems), and in Urdu, "دیوانی" refers to civil law or civil matters. Together, ضابطہ دیوانی refers to the Civil Procedure Code (CPC) and the substantive civil laws of a country. This term is used in legal contexts, law courts, legal education, and legal documents to distinguish civil law from criminal law (ضابطہ فوجداری, zabita foujdari). The phrase has neutral polarity, simply naming a legal code. The opposite concept is "ضابطہ فوجداری" (zabita foujdari, criminal code) or "قانون فوجداری" (qanoon foujdari, criminal law). The phrase is grammatically masculine (ضابطہ is masculine), and "دیوانی" is an adjective.