Pakistan Centre for Law and Society

The Alam Al-Khayal Foundation inaugurated the Centre in April 2019 to create a platform for engagement between Law and Civil Society. At the Centre, lawyers, jurists, academics, students, members of the civil service and civil society come together to research, reform, debate and develop law in Pakistan. Research and Development work is undertaken with a view to ensuring that theoretical analysis is combined with practical implementation. One of the key features of this project is to engage with foreign practitioners / specialists along with providing a platform to the professional Pakistani diaspora for engaging with local audience. The Centre has been formed in response to a need for greater jurisprudential analysis, debate and advocacy in legislative, judicial and policy matters. Its mission is to articulate an indigenous understanding of law, legal and cultural norms in Pakistan leading to a pluralistic society with collective civic sense.

Three initial high-impact areas have been targeted:

1. Redefining International Law;

2. Alternative Dispute Resolution; and

3. Governance of Cultural Heritage

Law Reform
We have been working in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and the Trade Dispute Resolution Organisation of Pakistan (TDRO) to draft a comprehensive regime for the resolution of international import and export disputes in Pakistan. This legislation promises to be effective given the participation and consultation of stakeholders, business communities, chambers of commerce, lawyers and judges that has been taken on board in drafting. The Legislative Statute was completed in 2017. It is waiting to be tabled in Parliament in 2018.