Message from the Founder
The Parvez Hassan Centre for Chinese Legal Studies (PHCCLS) is both an acknowledgement and a commitment. It acknowledges the extraordinary progress of the global leadership of China in social, human and economic development to the expected world’s leading economy by 2026. Its vision of One Belt and One Road (OBOR) and, particularly, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) signaled a huge game-changer for Pakistan and the region. All this, for us, is rooted in the all-weather friendship between China and Pakistan.
The PHCCLS builds on this friendship to commit to facilitating and strengthening the Chinaled vision for increased connectivity and development in the region including multiple energy projects and a supporting infrastructure of highways, railroads, industrial parks, wind farms, and economic zones. This is expected to follow in trade, business, commerce and lead to the strengthening of the strategic partnership between China and Pakistan. The PHCCLS shall, among others, provide a platform for the business communities of both the countries to promote a better understanding of each other’s legal systems and institutionalize a system of alternative dispute-resolution mechanisms (ADRs), including mediation, that is both time and cost efficient.
The CPEC investment in Pakistan already requires lawyers in Pakistan to be generally familiar with basic Chinese legal concepts and for lawyers in China dealing with Chinese interests in Pakistan to be generally familiar with basic legal concepts of our country. These enhance the capacity for the implementation of CPEC. And, this is precisely what the PHCCLS will, hopefully, set out to do, progressing to specific needs as they arise. I foresee a strong component of the Centre supporting arbitral bodies dedicated to CPEC-related disputes. The needs of Chinese investors include drafting of agreements, constructions contracts and joint ventures with clauses on applicable law and dispute resolution mechanisms. There are international precedents for these but these are models of Western countries and do not cater for the specific orientation of the Pakistan-China relationship on CPEC. This menu will also apply to Pakistani investors in China.
The region covered by OBOR, particularly the Central Asia Republics, is expected to be a stakeholder and beneficiary of the commitment of the PHCCLS. The massive plans to develop infrastructure in Pakistan (with the help of Chinese companies) will open up the access to the Central Asian States which are already well-woven together in OBOR. As I held out in my remarks at its ground-breaking in 2014, and later at the inauguration in 2015 of the Shaikh Ahmad Hassan School of Law (SAHSOL), with which the PHCCLS is associated, the mission of the Centre is “to create a hub of Chinese Legal Studies in the region enabled by an exchange of students and faculty from law schools in China”. We also look forward to a regional presence from the Central Asia Republics at the PHCCLS.
