ISLAMABAD: Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, the chairman of the Arbitration Law Review Committee, on Thursday stressed the need for updating and modernising the existing legislation with the contemporary international legal framework on arbitration and mediation.

The meeting of the review committee was called to examine the gaps in the prevailing legal framework in the light of international best practices and regional experiences.

The review committee was constituted by Chief Justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial after taking cognisance of the gaps in existing legal framework on arbitration being domestic in nature, absence of arbitration friendly rules and time-consuming procedures.

An initiative of Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan (LJCP), the review committee was mandated to analyse the existing legislation on the arbitration in Pakistan and recommend suitable measures including holistic legislation aligned with international and regional best practices on arbitration.

According to LJCP announcement, the meeting was also attended by senior counsel Muham­mad Makhdoom Ali Khan, Feisal Hussain Naqvi, Riffat Inam Butt and others.

The committee examined the gaps in the prevailing legal framework and expressed the need to update and modernise the existing legislation.

The committee resolved to go with the specific timelines to meet its mandate and for this purpose, a holistic approach will be adopted for drafting a new legislation.

The reformed legislation will cater to domestic and international arbitrational requirements.

The new legislation will also be shared with all stakeholders including government and private sector as well as academia and legal fraternity, the committee said.

The committee emphasised on training of judges, legal practitioners, subject experts and members of the chambers of the commerce.

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2023