Proposed arbitration law based on ‘UNCITRAL model’

Huddle told that legislation will help in resolving disputes swiftly

ISLAMABAD:

A committee on Thursday was informed that the proposed legislation on arbitration was based on the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) model.

According to its website, the UNCITRAL model is designed to assist states in reforming and modernising their laws on arbitral procedure so as to take into account the particular features and needs of international commercial arbitration.

Supreme Court judge Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, who is also the chairman of the Arbitration Law Review Committee, convened the third meeting of the body at the top court’s building in the federal capital.

Briefing the participants of the huddle, SC Advocate Feisal Hussain Naqvi said the proposed legislation, would deal with both domestic and international arbitration.

He continued that the proposed legislation would help in resolving all sorts of arbitration-related disputes expeditiously and swiftly.
The Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan (LJCP) would soon share the draft of the proposed legislation on arbitration with the general public as well as with experts and stakeholders to obtain their feedback so that it could be made more comprehensive and inclusive.

The SC advocate informed the participants if the meeting that the Arbitration Act, 1940 would be repealed and replaced with a modern law consistent with international best practices.

Top court’s senior advocate Muhammad Makhdoom Ali Khan, LJCP Secretary Riffat Inam Butt, Board of Investment Additional Secretary Muhammad Khashih-ur-Rehman, SC Research Centre’s Zafar Iqbal Khokhar, and Law Ministry Consultant Hassan Mehmood also participated in the meeting.

At the first meeting of the committee in June this year, its chairman had stressed the need for updating and modernising the existing legislation with the contemporary international legal framework on arbitration and mediation.

The review committee was formed by former chief justice of Pakistan Umar Ata Bandial after taking notice of the gaps in the existing legal framework on arbitration being domestic in nature. He had also taken notice of the absence of arbitration-friendly rules and time-consuming procedures.

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