Workshop on "Labour and Environment Litigation Theory and Workshop" at SAHSOL
On 26 September 2019, Dr. Sara Abraham and SAHSOL's Dr. Muhammad Azeem hosted a workshop on environmental and labour litigation at SAHSOL. The workshop drew together lawyers, academics and activists from Pakistan and abroad to share ideas on domestic and transnational legal tools that can be used to ensure labour and environmental protection and welfare.
Some of the welfare issues discussed were silcosis among stone cutters in Punjab, loopholes in Anti-Terror laws in Pakistan, limitations of Pakistan's existing environmental laws, lessons learned from litigation over Pakistan's Ali Enterprises fire of 2012 and Bangladesh's Rana Plaza collapse of 2013, and efforts to highlight the environmental and human cost of chemical fertilizers and pesticides in India and Pakistan. Speakers pointed to the limitation of public interest litigation in Pakistan, the use of strategic litigation and international soft law measures overseas. A major hurdle identified was the establishing liability across global supply chains and lack of implementation in public interest cases in Pakistan.
