Pakistan has won the Commonwealth Access to Justice Innovation Award 2026, according to the Press Information Department (PID), in recognition of the Ministry of Law and Justice’s digital justice initiatives, Pakistan Code and the Document Retrieval System. The ministry marked the achievement at a cake cutting ceremony at the ministry in Islamabad, the PID said.
The award was presented in connection with the Meeting of Commonwealth Law Ministers held in the Republic of Fiji, where Pakistan’s technological innovation was presented by the Federal Law Secretary, according to the PID. The Prime Minister has also congratulated the ministry on the honour.
What the Access to Justice Innovation Award Recognises
According to the PID, the Commonwealth Access to Justice Innovation Award recognises innovative government initiatives that use creative and technology-driven approaches to expand meaningful access to legal services, especially for vulnerable and underserved communities. The award is aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 16.3, which commits countries to ensuring equal access to justice for all.
For Pakistan, the PID said, the award highlights the impact of the government’s digital reforms, particularly Pakistan Code and the Document Retrieval System (DRS), in transforming access to authentic legal information and justice-related services for citizens.
The focus on authentic legal information matters because laws and official documents shape everyday life, from property and business to family and employment matters, and citizens in remote or underserved communities are often the last to reach them. The PID said the award recognises approaches that close exactly that gap, using technology to take legal services and information to the people who need them most.
Pakistan Code and the Document Retrieval System
Pakistan Code is the ministry’s digital platform for authentic legal information, and the Document Retrieval System supports justice-related services, the PID said. Together, the two initiatives form the core of the ministry’s reform agenda aimed at strengthening access to justice, and they were the work singled out for international recognition through the access to justice innovation award.
The honour sits within a wider digitisation of state services in Pakistan, from the move to only e-passports for new applicants to the State Bank’s Mojaloop training for Pakistani payment developers, as public institutions shift their services onto digital platforms.
A law library: the award recognises work that puts authentic legal information within everyone’s reach.
Photo: Abdurrazaq A.F.O, via Wikimedia Commons
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Presented in Fiji, Celebrated in Islamabad
Pakistan’s technological innovation was presented by the Federal Law Secretary, Ministry of Law and Justice, representing Pakistan at the Meeting of Commonwealth Law Ministers in Fiji, where he showcased the ministry’s digital justice reforms and their public impact, the PID said.
The ceremony in Islamabad was attended by Federal Minister for Law and Justice Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar, Minister of State for Law and Justice Barrister Aqeel Malik, Federal Law Secretary Raja Naeem Akbar, and senior officers of the ministry, including Aisha Rasool, Awais Nouman Kundi and Khashi-ur-Rehman, according to the PID.
Speaking on the occasion, Senator Azam Nazeer Tarar congratulated the Federal Law Secretary and the entire team, and reaffirmed that the ministry is steadily progressing towards digitisation and modernisation, while also adopting emerging trends such as Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and automation, the PID said. Minister of State Barrister Aqeel Malik also congratulated the Law Secretary and the team. Federal Law Secretary Raja Naeem Akbar acknowledged the contributions of officers and technical experts, particularly the Pakistan Code and DRS teams, stating that their round-the-clock efforts were instrumental in achieving the milestone, according to the PID.
Prime Minister Congratulates the Ministry
The Prime Minister, Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, has also extended felicitations to the Ministry of Law and Justice on Pakistan’s achievement of the Commonwealth Access to Justice Innovation Award, the PID said. The Prime Minister appreciated the ministry’s digital reforms and revolutionary initiatives aimed at improving access to justice, undertaken under the leadership of the Law Minister and the Federal Law Secretary.
APP reported that the Prime Minister described winning the award in the presence of the 56 Commonwealth countries as a big success for the country at the global level, and an important global acknowledgment of Pakistan’s efforts to promote digital innovation for effective access to justice.
The ceremony concluded with a renewed commitment to sustain reform initiatives, expand digital justice services, and further strengthen citizens’ access to legal information and justice mechanisms across Pakistan, the PID said. The recognition also connects with wider regional technology cooperation, such as the China-Pakistan Information Corridor launched in Islamabad, as digital platforms take a central place in how the state serves its citizens.
Sources
- Press Information Department, Government of Pakistan, press release
- APP, via UrduPoint, Prime Minister felicitates the Ministry of Law and Justice
- Featured photo: Usman Ghani, via Wikimedia Commons
- Photo: Abdurrazaq A.F.O, via Wikimedia Commons
Umar Farooq is the founder and editor of Good News Pakistan. An engineer by profession and a writer by passion, he started the site in December 2022 to share good news from Pakistan, and has since written and edited more than 200 articles about its people, sports, science, business and world records. He believes the story of Pakistan is bigger than its headlines, and that good news, told honestly, is worth telling every day.