Project Overview
RSIL has been engaged by the Federal Ministry of Human Rights to examine Pakistan’s State practice on international human rights and develop a roadmap for reform which brings Pakistan’s domestic legal landscape in line with its international human rights obligations.
This landmark and resource-intensive exercise requires the identification of Pakistan’s international human rights obligations in their totality and the precise scope of these rights; determination of the scope and parameters of fundamental rights in the Constitution based on latest jurisprudence of the Superior Courts in Pakistan; identification of all domestic implementation mechanisms at the Federal and Provincial level and collation of gaps and lacunas; development of targeted recommendations for improving Pakistan’s domestic compliance with its international human rights obligations and suggested vehicles for reform.
Project Outcomes
RSIL has completed its research under this project and the final document is scheduled to be presented to the Ministry for review in January, 2019. Spanning over 1500 pages, the report analyses the international scope and domestic implementation of 28 rights based on the core human rights conventions ratified by Pakistan. It is based on the examination of over 1200 domestic laws, including a section-by-section review of 478 federal and provincial laws & rules, over 400 judgments of the superior courts and a detailed examination of all country and shadow reports relating to Pakistan on the core international human rights conventions. Our team has also perused through the seminal international literature relating to each right as well as General Comments and Recommendations by UN human rights treaty bodies.
Through this exercise, RSIL aims to compile for the first time, Pakistan’s State practice on human rights and present to the Government of Pakistan a legal blueprint for initiating wide-ranging, readily executable, multi-sector reform in the field of human rights.
Date: April 2018 – March 2019
Team: Oves Anwar, Minahil Khan, Ayesha Alam Malik, Shayan Ahmed Khan, Sakeena Moeen, Abraze Aqil, Noor Waheed, Zainab Mustafa, Hira Arif Riar, Hijab Siddiqui, Abdul Ghani, Mehreen Naushad, Hafsa Durrani
Project Partner: Ministry of Human Rights, Government of Pakistan
