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
The Government of Pakistan every so often engages the Foundation for Law Reform Projects. Recently, we have been engaged by Government of Punjab to be a member of the Working Group to draft the Punjab Commercial Court Ordinance, 2021. Previously, we were part of the Federal Working Group that was assigned to prepare a comprehensive report on BIT’s. We have also 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.