Pakistani PM Yousuf Raza Gilani has appeared before the country's Supreme Court in contempt proceedings, to defend his record.
The court initiated the hearing over Mr Gilani's refusal to ask Swiss officials to reopen a corruption case against President Asif Ali Zardari.If found guilty of contempt he could be banned from holding public office.
After a hearing lasting little more than an hour the case was adjourned until early February.
Mr Gilani had smiled and waved as he arrived at the Supreme Court, accompanied by senior cabinet ministers.
In a lengthy opening statement he spoke of his respect for the court and the Pakistani constitution.
He said he had not intended to defy the court but that he believed Mr Zardari had presidential immunity from prosecution.
"I have discussed this with my friends and experts, and they all agree that he has got complete immunity," the AFP news agency reported Mr Gilani as saying.
"It will not give a good message to proceed against a president who is elected by a two-thirds majority."
Mr Gilani's embattled government is currently embroiled in disputes with the judiciary and also with Pakistan's powerful armed forces.
The prime minister sounded conciliatory at the hearing but his appearance was intended to be a show of strength for the government, says the BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Islamabad.
Mounting tensions face Pakistan's prime minister and government
"There is no harm in writing a letter to the Swiss authorities," he said.
"The president has complete immunity against criminal procedures in the courts."
He added: "I don't think the prime minister has committed contempt of court by not writing the letter. Through my arguments I will try to convince the court that the prime minister is not guilty of contempt."
Money laundering Mr Zardari and his late wife, former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, were found guilty in absentia by a Swiss court in 2003 of laundering millions of dollars in kickbacks from Swiss firms while they were in government.
They appealed and Swiss officials dropped the case in 2008 at the request of the Pakistani government.
The case was one of thousands dropped as a result of an amnesty that allowed Ms Bhutto to return from self-imposed exile and run for election in 2008. She was assassinated shortly after returning in late 2007.
However, in 2009 Pakistan's Supreme Court declared the amnesty unconstitutional, leaving those covered by it open to prosecution.
The government is also engaged in a dispute with the military over an anonymous memo asking for US help to avert a possible army coup in Pakistan. The memo was sent in the wake of the killing of Osama Bin Laden in May 2011.
US officials have acknowledged receiving the memo but say they took no action over it.
Both disputes have overshadowed Pakistan's deteriorating relationship with Washington following US air strikes that accidentally killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November.
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