This paper was commissioned by the Civil Society Coalition on Climate Change and the main issues ... more This paper was commissioned by the Civil Society Coalition on Climate Change and the main issues it seeks to address are: - The Constitutional provisions with relation to climate change; - The climate governance responsibilities of the Federation and the Provinces after the 18th Amendment; - The implications and risk posed by the re-ordering subsequent to the 18th Amendment, and any ambiguity in its interpretation with regard to implementation; - The extent of Pakistan’s responsibility to international and domestic legal obligations to climate change; and - Climate governance challenges and threats posed by lack of coordination between the Federation and the Provinces, and their potential impact on development and security.
This essay originates as a response to the judicial interest developed in water in 2018. The Supr... more This essay originates as a response to the judicial interest developed in water in 2018. The Supreme Court’s suo motu hearings on the drinking water situation in Karachi and Sindh have grown into other suo motu proceedings regarding drinking water in Lahore, the use of groundwater by cement manufacturers in the Salt Range, the quality of bottled drinking water in Lahore and the notification of the CJ-PM Diamer-Bhasha Dam Fund. Such a heightening interest in water litigation would be complimented with some knowledge of water law in Pakistan.
However, this essay should not be seen as an attempt to address so many areas of judicial interest in water. Instead, the effort in this paper is to identify water laws and principles as they emerged in Pakistan’s constitutional history, and provide, hopefully, a framework within which discussion on water laws can be more structured and beneficial to the stakeholders outside the irrigation and hydropower scales of water.
Given the impasse over adjudicatory forums that has arisen between India and Pakistan over propos... more Given the impasse over adjudicatory forums that has arisen between India and Pakistan over proposed hydropower projects projects to be constructed by India on the Western Rivers of the Indus Basin, this policy brief seeks to identify the role of the World Bank with respect to the Indus Waters Treaty, 1960; and to determine whether the Bank can call for pauses, or refuse a Party to the Treaty’s request to resolve its disputes with the other?
This Situational Analysis was commissioned by WWF-Pakistan as part of its project on the implemen... more This Situational Analysis was commissioned by WWF-Pakistan as part of its project on the implementation of environmental and labour laws in Pakistan's SME sector.
The aims of the present study are to provide a detailed critical assessment of past and present environmental laws in Pakistan and to critically analyse gaps in the implementation, enforcement and compliance of environmental legislation in order to build a case for improved compliance to national environmental laws in the industrial sector (with a special emphasis on leather and textile exports
India, Pakistan and the World Bank have reached an impasse over issues of the Kishenganga and Rat... more India, Pakistan and the World Bank have reached an impasse over issues of the Kishenganga and Ratle hydropower power plants. Both countries met at Secretary level talks held in the Bank’s Washington D.C. offices last month. The Bank’s vague statement at the end of the talks confirmed both countries’ continued commitment to the preservation of the Treaty, but also disclosed that no concluding agreement had been reached.
There are two opposing points of view regarding the forum to resolve Pakistan’s concerns regarding the design of two power plants. While Pakistan has moved to establish an International Court of Arbitration, India argues that the matters must be heard by a Neutral Expert and no other. The Treaty provides for these two forums, in cases of disputes that may arise between the two countries with respect to the design of any hydropower projects proposed by India on any of the Western Rivers of the Indus Basin. Reports indicate India has refused four different options of forum presented by the Bank.
The determination of the Neutral Expert in the Baglihar difference (2007) and the Interim and Final Awards of the International Court of rbitration in the Kishenganga arbitration (2013) have clarified the law in several areas of the Treaty. The cases cast new light on the manner in which the Treaty assigns dispute resolution responsibilities between the Neutral Expert and the International Court of Arbitration. This paper seeks to explain the current impasse in light of these decisions, and recommends tactical and strategy options for Pakistan to negotiate with.
The Partition of India divided the largest contiguous gravity flow irrigation system on the plane... more The Partition of India divided the largest contiguous gravity flow irrigation system on the planet, creating a new riparian relationship between India and Pakistan over the Indus Basin. Whilst the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 has been successful in defining the rights of the riparians over the rivers of the Indus Basin for the past six decades, new challenges such as climate change and unsustainable groundwater mining are raising water- and food-security concerns that the Treaty was neither intended to nor envisioned to deal with. Emerging regional developments, such as China’s One Belt One Road Project and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor also challenge the fundamental regional security framework. In this paper, the emerging challenges of the Indus Basin are set against these new challenges as well as the past application of the Treaty. The review of the application of the Treaty reveals that while India and Pakistan make rights-based claims on the Treaty, they are willing to accept needs-based decisions, possibly opening new areas of consensus in trans-boundary water management. In examining this ageing Treaty’s limitations against these development, new transboundary water management challenges, and opportunities, emerge.
The India-Pakistan border is underlain by the Indus River plain aquifer, a 560,000-km2 confined- ... more The India-Pakistan border is underlain by the Indus River plain aquifer, a 560,000-km2 confined- to the semi-confined porous alluvial formation. Information collected by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (“GRACE”) satellite mission between August 2002 and October 2008, of changes in the territorial water storage in the Indian states of Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and the National Capital Territory of Delhi, proved that the water withdrawals for irrigation and other uses were heavily depleting the groundwater reserves of these regions. Time-lapse images of the information collected indicated that groundwater extraction in India might be affecting groundwater in Pakistan. The present study explores the issue further particularly focusing the legal dimensions.
However, the purpose of this paper is not to “prepare a case” for Pakistan but to prepare a case for transboundary cooperation on groundwater based on an understanding of the existing legal systems in India and Pakistan, principles of international law and shared and reliable information about the characteristics in the Indus River Plain Aquifer.
"It has now been two decades since Chief Justice Muhammad Haleem and others recognized the limita... more "It has now been two decades since Chief Justice Muhammad Haleem and others recognized the limitations of the 'Anglo-Saxon outgrowth' our system of litigation represented and sowed the seeds of PIL into the landscape of Pakistani jurisprudence. This paper seeks to review the topography of that landscape. In doing so, it will have the benefit of nearly two decades of case-law developed by PIL. It shall also refine some opinions on the origins of PIL within the larger context of the role of the Pakistani judiciary. It is hoped that this new analysis will provide the legal fraternity a firmer grasp of its role as the provider of 'justice for all'."
This paper was submitted at the SAARC Judicial Conference "Justice for All" held in Karachi in 2004.
is paper is a unique opportunity to examine the environmental challenges of India and Pakistan, t... more is paper is a unique opportunity to examine the environmental challenges of India and Pakistan, the two neighboring nations perhaps most important in South Asia, and what they can hope to learn from each other in a new era of political engagement. It looks at each country’s unique constitutional position on the environment and some shared concerns, challenges, and opportunities in the development of environmental law. Seven broad issues are discussed, including regulatory mechanisms on environmental law compliance; strengthening institutions for environmental decision-making; capacity-building of substantive and procedural environmental laws with a focus on executive institutions; the role of environmental law; and the shift in corporate governance from social responsibility to environmental responsibility.
The paper then addresses some unique environmental concerns in each country, including critical habitats, ecologically vulnerable wetlands, and other sensitive areas where lessons can be drawn from each other. Another focus is on the relevance of tenure security and local community participation in ensuring conservation. The paper also discusses the issues and challenges of shared resources, such as trans-boundary rivers and groundwater resources involving shared aquifers. Despite the differing economies of scale, there are similar challenges in India and Pakistan on environmental law compliance and the need for institutional development and stronger environmental decision-making, and there is a lot they can learn from each other.
This paper was commissioned by the Civil Society Coalition on Climate Change and the main issues ... more This paper was commissioned by the Civil Society Coalition on Climate Change and the main issues it seeks to address are: - The Constitutional provisions with relation to climate change; - The climate governance responsibilities of the Federation and the Provinces after the 18th Amendment; - The implications and risk posed by the re-ordering subsequent to the 18th Amendment, and any ambiguity in its interpretation with regard to implementation; - The extent of Pakistan’s responsibility to international and domestic legal obligations to climate change; and - Climate governance challenges and threats posed by lack of coordination between the Federation and the Provinces, and their potential impact on development and security.
This essay originates as a response to the judicial interest developed in water in 2018. The Supr... more This essay originates as a response to the judicial interest developed in water in 2018. The Supreme Court’s suo motu hearings on the drinking water situation in Karachi and Sindh have grown into other suo motu proceedings regarding drinking water in Lahore, the use of groundwater by cement manufacturers in the Salt Range, the quality of bottled drinking water in Lahore and the notification of the CJ-PM Diamer-Bhasha Dam Fund. Such a heightening interest in water litigation would be complimented with some knowledge of water law in Pakistan.
However, this essay should not be seen as an attempt to address so many areas of judicial interest in water. Instead, the effort in this paper is to identify water laws and principles as they emerged in Pakistan’s constitutional history, and provide, hopefully, a framework within which discussion on water laws can be more structured and beneficial to the stakeholders outside the irrigation and hydropower scales of water.
Given the impasse over adjudicatory forums that has arisen between India and Pakistan over propos... more Given the impasse over adjudicatory forums that has arisen between India and Pakistan over proposed hydropower projects projects to be constructed by India on the Western Rivers of the Indus Basin, this policy brief seeks to identify the role of the World Bank with respect to the Indus Waters Treaty, 1960; and to determine whether the Bank can call for pauses, or refuse a Party to the Treaty’s request to resolve its disputes with the other?
This Situational Analysis was commissioned by WWF-Pakistan as part of its project on the implemen... more This Situational Analysis was commissioned by WWF-Pakistan as part of its project on the implementation of environmental and labour laws in Pakistan's SME sector.
The aims of the present study are to provide a detailed critical assessment of past and present environmental laws in Pakistan and to critically analyse gaps in the implementation, enforcement and compliance of environmental legislation in order to build a case for improved compliance to national environmental laws in the industrial sector (with a special emphasis on leather and textile exports
India, Pakistan and the World Bank have reached an impasse over issues of the Kishenganga and Rat... more India, Pakistan and the World Bank have reached an impasse over issues of the Kishenganga and Ratle hydropower power plants. Both countries met at Secretary level talks held in the Bank’s Washington D.C. offices last month. The Bank’s vague statement at the end of the talks confirmed both countries’ continued commitment to the preservation of the Treaty, but also disclosed that no concluding agreement had been reached.
There are two opposing points of view regarding the forum to resolve Pakistan’s concerns regarding the design of two power plants. While Pakistan has moved to establish an International Court of Arbitration, India argues that the matters must be heard by a Neutral Expert and no other. The Treaty provides for these two forums, in cases of disputes that may arise between the two countries with respect to the design of any hydropower projects proposed by India on any of the Western Rivers of the Indus Basin. Reports indicate India has refused four different options of forum presented by the Bank.
The determination of the Neutral Expert in the Baglihar difference (2007) and the Interim and Final Awards of the International Court of rbitration in the Kishenganga arbitration (2013) have clarified the law in several areas of the Treaty. The cases cast new light on the manner in which the Treaty assigns dispute resolution responsibilities between the Neutral Expert and the International Court of Arbitration. This paper seeks to explain the current impasse in light of these decisions, and recommends tactical and strategy options for Pakistan to negotiate with.
The Partition of India divided the largest contiguous gravity flow irrigation system on the plane... more The Partition of India divided the largest contiguous gravity flow irrigation system on the planet, creating a new riparian relationship between India and Pakistan over the Indus Basin. Whilst the Indus Waters Treaty of 1960 has been successful in defining the rights of the riparians over the rivers of the Indus Basin for the past six decades, new challenges such as climate change and unsustainable groundwater mining are raising water- and food-security concerns that the Treaty was neither intended to nor envisioned to deal with. Emerging regional developments, such as China’s One Belt One Road Project and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor also challenge the fundamental regional security framework. In this paper, the emerging challenges of the Indus Basin are set against these new challenges as well as the past application of the Treaty. The review of the application of the Treaty reveals that while India and Pakistan make rights-based claims on the Treaty, they are willing to accept needs-based decisions, possibly opening new areas of consensus in trans-boundary water management. In examining this ageing Treaty’s limitations against these development, new transboundary water management challenges, and opportunities, emerge.
The India-Pakistan border is underlain by the Indus River plain aquifer, a 560,000-km2 confined- ... more The India-Pakistan border is underlain by the Indus River plain aquifer, a 560,000-km2 confined- to the semi-confined porous alluvial formation. Information collected by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (“GRACE”) satellite mission between August 2002 and October 2008, of changes in the territorial water storage in the Indian states of Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and the National Capital Territory of Delhi, proved that the water withdrawals for irrigation and other uses were heavily depleting the groundwater reserves of these regions. Time-lapse images of the information collected indicated that groundwater extraction in India might be affecting groundwater in Pakistan. The present study explores the issue further particularly focusing the legal dimensions.
However, the purpose of this paper is not to “prepare a case” for Pakistan but to prepare a case for transboundary cooperation on groundwater based on an understanding of the existing legal systems in India and Pakistan, principles of international law and shared and reliable information about the characteristics in the Indus River Plain Aquifer.
"It has now been two decades since Chief Justice Muhammad Haleem and others recognized the limita... more "It has now been two decades since Chief Justice Muhammad Haleem and others recognized the limitations of the 'Anglo-Saxon outgrowth' our system of litigation represented and sowed the seeds of PIL into the landscape of Pakistani jurisprudence. This paper seeks to review the topography of that landscape. In doing so, it will have the benefit of nearly two decades of case-law developed by PIL. It shall also refine some opinions on the origins of PIL within the larger context of the role of the Pakistani judiciary. It is hoped that this new analysis will provide the legal fraternity a firmer grasp of its role as the provider of 'justice for all'."
This paper was submitted at the SAARC Judicial Conference "Justice for All" held in Karachi in 2004.
is paper is a unique opportunity to examine the environmental challenges of India and Pakistan, t... more is paper is a unique opportunity to examine the environmental challenges of India and Pakistan, the two neighboring nations perhaps most important in South Asia, and what they can hope to learn from each other in a new era of political engagement. It looks at each country’s unique constitutional position on the environment and some shared concerns, challenges, and opportunities in the development of environmental law. Seven broad issues are discussed, including regulatory mechanisms on environmental law compliance; strengthening institutions for environmental decision-making; capacity-building of substantive and procedural environmental laws with a focus on executive institutions; the role of environmental law; and the shift in corporate governance from social responsibility to environmental responsibility.
The paper then addresses some unique environmental concerns in each country, including critical habitats, ecologically vulnerable wetlands, and other sensitive areas where lessons can be drawn from each other. Another focus is on the relevance of tenure security and local community participation in ensuring conservation. The paper also discusses the issues and challenges of shared resources, such as trans-boundary rivers and groundwater resources involving shared aquifers. Despite the differing economies of scale, there are similar challenges in India and Pakistan on environmental law compliance and the need for institutional development and stronger environmental decision-making, and there is a lot they can learn from each other.
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Papers by Rafay Alam
- The Constitutional provisions with relation to climate change;
- The climate governance responsibilities of the Federation and the Provinces after the 18th Amendment;
- The implications and risk posed by the re-ordering subsequent to the 18th Amendment, and any ambiguity in its interpretation with regard to implementation;
- The extent of Pakistan’s responsibility to international and domestic legal obligations to climate change; and
- Climate governance challenges and threats posed by lack of coordination between the Federation and the Provinces, and their potential impact on development and security.
However, this essay should not be seen as an attempt to address so many areas of judicial interest in water. Instead, the effort in this paper is to identify water laws and principles as they emerged in Pakistan’s constitutional history, and provide, hopefully, a framework within which discussion on water laws can be more structured and beneficial to the stakeholders outside the irrigation and hydropower scales of water.
The aims of the present study are to provide a detailed critical assessment of past and present environmental laws in Pakistan and to critically analyse gaps in the implementation, enforcement and compliance of environmental legislation in order to build a case for improved compliance to national environmental laws in the industrial sector (with a special emphasis on leather and textile exports
There are two opposing points of view regarding the forum to resolve Pakistan’s concerns regarding the design of two power plants. While Pakistan has moved to establish an International Court of Arbitration, India argues that the matters must be heard by a Neutral Expert and no other. The Treaty provides for these two forums, in cases of disputes that may arise between the two countries with respect to the design of any hydropower projects proposed by India on any of the Western Rivers of the Indus Basin. Reports indicate India has refused four different options of forum presented by the Bank.
The determination of the Neutral Expert in the Baglihar difference (2007) and the Interim and Final Awards of the International Court of rbitration in the Kishenganga arbitration (2013) have clarified the law in several areas of the Treaty. The cases cast new light on the manner in which the Treaty assigns dispute resolution responsibilities between the Neutral Expert and the International Court of Arbitration. This paper seeks to explain the current impasse in light of these decisions, and recommends tactical and strategy options for Pakistan to negotiate with.
However, the purpose of this paper is not to “prepare a case” for Pakistan but to prepare a case for transboundary cooperation on groundwater based on an understanding of the existing legal systems in India and Pakistan, principles of international law and shared and reliable information about the characteristics in the Indus River Plain Aquifer.
This paper was submitted at the SAARC Judicial Conference "Justice for All" held in Karachi in 2004.
The paper then addresses some unique environmental concerns in each country, including critical habitats, ecologically vulnerable wetlands, and other sensitive areas where lessons can be drawn from each other. Another focus is on the relevance of tenure security and local community participation in ensuring conservation. The paper also discusses the issues and challenges of shared resources, such as trans-boundary rivers and groundwater resources involving shared aquifers. Despite the differing economies of scale, there are similar challenges in India and Pakistan on environmental law compliance and the need for institutional development and stronger environmental decision-making, and there is a lot they can learn from each other.
- The Constitutional provisions with relation to climate change;
- The climate governance responsibilities of the Federation and the Provinces after the 18th Amendment;
- The implications and risk posed by the re-ordering subsequent to the 18th Amendment, and any ambiguity in its interpretation with regard to implementation;
- The extent of Pakistan’s responsibility to international and domestic legal obligations to climate change; and
- Climate governance challenges and threats posed by lack of coordination between the Federation and the Provinces, and their potential impact on development and security.
However, this essay should not be seen as an attempt to address so many areas of judicial interest in water. Instead, the effort in this paper is to identify water laws and principles as they emerged in Pakistan’s constitutional history, and provide, hopefully, a framework within which discussion on water laws can be more structured and beneficial to the stakeholders outside the irrigation and hydropower scales of water.
The aims of the present study are to provide a detailed critical assessment of past and present environmental laws in Pakistan and to critically analyse gaps in the implementation, enforcement and compliance of environmental legislation in order to build a case for improved compliance to national environmental laws in the industrial sector (with a special emphasis on leather and textile exports
There are two opposing points of view regarding the forum to resolve Pakistan’s concerns regarding the design of two power plants. While Pakistan has moved to establish an International Court of Arbitration, India argues that the matters must be heard by a Neutral Expert and no other. The Treaty provides for these two forums, in cases of disputes that may arise between the two countries with respect to the design of any hydropower projects proposed by India on any of the Western Rivers of the Indus Basin. Reports indicate India has refused four different options of forum presented by the Bank.
The determination of the Neutral Expert in the Baglihar difference (2007) and the Interim and Final Awards of the International Court of rbitration in the Kishenganga arbitration (2013) have clarified the law in several areas of the Treaty. The cases cast new light on the manner in which the Treaty assigns dispute resolution responsibilities between the Neutral Expert and the International Court of Arbitration. This paper seeks to explain the current impasse in light of these decisions, and recommends tactical and strategy options for Pakistan to negotiate with.
However, the purpose of this paper is not to “prepare a case” for Pakistan but to prepare a case for transboundary cooperation on groundwater based on an understanding of the existing legal systems in India and Pakistan, principles of international law and shared and reliable information about the characteristics in the Indus River Plain Aquifer.
This paper was submitted at the SAARC Judicial Conference "Justice for All" held in Karachi in 2004.
The paper then addresses some unique environmental concerns in each country, including critical habitats, ecologically vulnerable wetlands, and other sensitive areas where lessons can be drawn from each other. Another focus is on the relevance of tenure security and local community participation in ensuring conservation. The paper also discusses the issues and challenges of shared resources, such as trans-boundary rivers and groundwater resources involving shared aquifers. Despite the differing economies of scale, there are similar challenges in India and Pakistan on environmental law compliance and the need for institutional development and stronger environmental decision-making, and there is a lot they can learn from each other.