Islamabad Policy Research Institute-IPRI

IPRI Podcasts|
Pakistan's Digital Transformation Landscape - Part I

Pakistan is undergoing a remarkable digital transformation. From expanding internet connectivity and fintech innovation to e-commerce growth, artificial intelligence, digital payments, startups, and e-governance initiatives, the country is rapidly embracing the digital age.

In this video, Policy Advocacy Specialist, Javairyah Kulthum Aatif and Vice Chairperson, Pakistan Digital Authority, Dr. Muhammad J. Sear, explore how technology is reshaping Pakistan's economy, businesses, education, healthcare, and public services. Learn about the opportunities, challenges, and future trends driving Pakistan toward a digitally empowered future.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0oQBw8q51o

IPRI Explainers|
The 4 Legal Barriers to Economic Freedom

Imagine the global economy as a massive high-stakes game where the ultimate punishment is not military action, but financial isolation. International sanctions can freeze assets, block trade, restrict investment, and disconnect entire nations from the global financial system.

In this video, International Law Researcher, Iqra Bano Sohail breaks down the three major types of international sanctions:
• United Nations multilateral sanctions
• Unilateral and secondary sanctions imposed by the United States
• Independent sanctions regimes operated by the European Union

From UN Security Council votes and US congressional action to EU political approvals and FATF compliance requirements, we examine the four separate legal pathways that must be cleared before a sanctioned nation can truly re-enter the global economy.
This is the story of modern economic warfare, international law, and the hidden mechanisms that shape global power.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWLdJFMaUAY

IPRI Webinars|
From International Standards to Domestic Practice: Advancing ADR Implementation

IPRI, with the International Law Association, and the Research Society of International Law, hosted a webinar, featuring Michael Mcilwrath, Chair International Law IPRI, Ayesha Soddique Khan, and Barrister Talha Ali Khawaja, moderated by International Law Researcher, Iqra Bano Sohail

The panel focused on strengthening ADR through targeted reforms. They recommended mandatory Early Case Assessment at the start of disputes and the creation of joint legal finance teams to align dispute strategy with corporate financial planning. Mediation was framed as a tool for capital efficiency, helping reduce litigation costs and financial reserves.

Institutionally, the speakers called for amending Section 3(1)(a) of the ADR Act 2017 to reduce consent-based barriers to referral. They also proposed establishing accredited sector specific mediator panels and an NIRC Mediation Centre to improve specialization and access. For enforcement certainty, they recommended narrowing the public policy exception under the New York Convention and clarifying the distinction between sovereign and commercial assets. Finally, they stressed safeguards to ensure voluntariness in mediation outcomes and to preserve access to courts where participation in ADR is made mandatory.

IPRI RTC|
The Future Scope of ADR in Pakistan’s Judicial System

Highlights from IPRI's recent RoundTable Conference

1. ADR is no longer "alternative" but integral. A recurring framing was that ADR has shifted from a supplementary option into a core component of dispute resolution, corporate governance, investor protection, and ease of doing business — set against a backlog of roughly 2.4 million pending cases.

2. The decisive shift from voluntary to court-managed and mandatory mediation. Voluntary mediation alone could never clear the caseload; the breakthrough came from courts directing parties to mediate under case-management powers, backed by a growing body of jurisprudence (close to 48 reported judgments) and comparative authority such as the English Churchill decision.

3. A two-track strategy is essential. Pakistan needs two distinct regimes: a sophisticated, UNCITRAL Model-Law-compliant system to compete as an international arbitration seat, and a separate indigenous, low-cost, district-level model for the family and civil disputes that drive the domestic backlog — with the warning that a single statute cannot serve both.

4. The real backlog lies in petty, grassroots disputes, not commercial ones. Civil and family disputes are the "nursery" of criminal cases, and filtering them out early matters more for the backlog than the high-profile commercial-arbitration agenda — settling one case effectively removes around nine downstream proceedings.

5. Arbitration as a multi-billion-dollar export opportunity. International arbitration was framed as a global industry (~USD 80 billion annually, led by Singapore), where even a 5% share could mean ~USD 4 billion a year for Pakistan, alongside FDI-confidence benefits of becoming a credible seat — possibly requiring a constitutional sovereign guarantee.

6. Institutional and regulatory embedding of mediation. ADR is being built into the system structurally — embedding mediation clauses in company articles and moving toward mandatory mediation in capital markets; new legislation and large-scale training initiatives; and online accreditation of mediators and arbitrators.

7. Capacity, training, and accreditation are the binding constraints. The shortage of trained human resource and accredited professionals recurred throughout, with past failures attributed to untrained committees acting outside the facilitative spirit of mediation.

8. Cost and incentive structures must drive settlement. Drawing on the UK system, adverse-costs rules and pre-action protocols were identified as the single biggest driver of settlement, contrasted with Pakistan, where cases can take around 25 years to reach the Supreme Court with no disincentive against pursuing weak claims. Mediation must also be free or genuinely low-cost to gain traction.

9. The lawyer's mindset and legislative gaps are the principal obstacles. The legal culture (with lawyers often cited as the biggest obstacle), the absence of codified ADR rules, the outdated 1940 Arbitration Act, and a "perspective gap" among judges who view mediation as power-sharing were identified as the key barriers.

10. Indigenous and faith-based foundations for ADR. ADR was grounded in Pakistan's own traditions — the Quranic concept of sulh, the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah, Article 37 of the Constitution, and existing jirga, panchayat, and conciliation structures — which should be codified rather than abandoned, while reserving sophisticated international models for commercial disputes.

IPRI Threads|
World Refugee Day

Curated by International Law Researcher, Khadija Almus Khanum

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency

IPRI Threads|
International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict

Curated by International Law Researcher, Iqra Bano Sohail

IPRI Articles|
Water Wars

Director Research & Analysis, Brig. Dr. Raashid Wali Janjua writes for The News,

"Pakistan is fully entitled to the water flowing from the three Western rivers under the IWT, having forfeited its share of the three eastern rivers – Ravi, Beas, and Sutlej."

Water wars The next war in South Asia will be over water and it looks like as if the Modi government has already made up its mind to go that way. By walking away illegally from the World Bank brokered Indus...

IPRI Policy Briefs|
Securing Digital Pakistan: The Need for a Data Protection Regime

by International Law Researcher, Iqra Bano Sohail

https://ipripak.org/securing-digital-pakistan-the-need-for-a-data-protection-regime/

IPRI Articles|
Pakistan’s New Role in the Difficult Iran­–US Dialogue

Policy Advocacy Specialist, Javairyah Kulthum Aatif writes for Valdai Club,

"Pakistan’s mediation may ultimately prove historically significant without becoming structurally transformative. That paradox is common to intermediary powers operating during periods of systemic transition."

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/pakistan-s-new-role-in-the-difficult-iran-us-dialogue/

IPRI Articles|
China-India Relations:
Geopolitical Obstacles to Sustained Economic Engagement

Research Associate, Amna Ejaz Rafi writes for Institute of Regional Studies, Islamabad's Focus Publications

https://irs.org.pk/Focus/FMay26.pdf