Arbitrators

Professor Dr Martin Lau


Professor Martin Lau specialises in the field of Islamic finance and South Asian law in his Counsel practice.  In his arbitration practice, Martin sits as sole, presiding and co-arbitrator with experience under ad-hoc, LCIA, DIFC-LCIA and UNCITRAL rules, including Pakistan, Dubai, Qatar, Turkey and UK seated arbitrations spanning various practice streams, further details below.  Martin’s professional experience includes appointments as Legal Officer to the Claims Resolution Tribunal for Dormant Accounts in Switzerland and as Legal Assistant to Prof Martin Hunter at the NAFTA Arbitral Panel in Mexico -v- US. He has provided expert reports on Islamic and South Asian law in over 200 cases. Martin frequently carries out consultancies and international fact-finding missions, for example to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Somalia and Iran.  Martin is also a Chartered Institute accredited mediator with experience of community mediation.

Martin is also a Professor of Law at SOAS University of London, where he has lectured since 1990. He has held visiting academic appointments at Harvard Law School and Nagoya University and is the Editor-in-Chief of Brill’s Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law.

Nationality:   German

Languages:    English and German (bilingual); Arabic, Urdu & French (intermediate)

Practice as Arbitrator

Claims in relation to:

  • Islamic finance/Murabaha Agreement (DIFC/LCIA)
  • employment dispute (UK/Saudi Arabia) (LCIA)
  • investment dispute (Qatar) (LCIA)
  • contractual dispute (Afghanistan) (PCA Ad Hoc)
  • oil/gas contracts (UAE) (LCIA)
  • media/broadcasting dispute (Pakistan) (LCIA)

Memberships

  • Member of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA)
  • Member of the International Chamber of Commerce International Court of Arbitration (ICC)
  • Member of Dubai International Arbitration Centre Panel (DIAC)
  • Member of Cairo Regional Centre International Arbitration (CRCICA)

Expert Opinions & Consultancies

Special Advisor to:

  • Somalia Justice Sector Reform Strategy DFID (Mogadishu 2013)
  • Kabul International Donor Conference EU (Kabul (2010)
  • Justice Sector Support Project EU (Kabul 2007-2008)

Over 200 expert opinions on Pakistani, Indian & Middle Eastern in relation to commercial disputes, extraditions, political asylum and criminal law in proceedings before UK courts and tribunals and arbitral proceedings.

Career

(1997-present)
Tenant, Essex Court Chambers, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London

(2012-present)
Professor of Law, School of Law, SOAS, University of London

(2016-2018)
Dean & Professor of Law, School of Law, LUMS, Lahore/Pakistan

(2004-2012)
Reader in Law, School of Law, SOAS

(2007-2008)
Special Advisor and Team Leader of the European Commission Justice Sector Reform Programme, Kabul, Afghanistan

(2006-2007)
Visiting Scholar, Islamic Legal Studies Program, Harvard Law School

(2005-2006)
Visiting Scholar, Centre for Asian Legal Exchange, University of Nagoya

(1992-2004)
Lecturer in Law, Department of Law, SOAS

(1990-1992)
Training Fellow in South Asian Law, Department of Law, SOAS

Qualifications

(1997)
Barrister at Law, Middle Temple

(2014-2015)
Diploma in Communicative Arabic (SOAS Language Centre)

(2002)
PhD “The Role of Islam in the Legal System of Pakistan” (University of London)

(1988-1989)
MA Area Studies (South Asia) (SOAS University of London)

(1985-1988)
BA (equivalent) History, Law & Political Science (University of Heidelberg, Germany)

Editorships & Advisory Boards

Member, Consulting Editorial Board, Lexis Nexis PSL Arbitration (since 2022)

Member, Education and Training Advisory Group, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (since 2022)

Editor-in-Chief, Brill’s Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law (since 2008)
Co- Editor, Brill’s Arab and Islamic Law Series (since 2008)

Member, Management Committee, SOAS Centre for Arbitration and Dispute Resolution (since 2023)

Recent Publications

(with Faris Nasrallah) “The Role of Public Policy”, in: Gordon Blanke, Mohamed S. Abdel Wahab, Nayla Comair-Obeid, Soraya Corm-Bakhos (eds) The MENA Leading Arbitrators’ Guide to International Arbitration (Juris 2023)

“The Public Policy Exception and International Commercial Arbitration in the MENA Region; A Contextual Analysis”, in: Gordon Blanke & Habib Al Mulla (eds), Arbitration in the MENA (Juris 2022) (pp 1-64)

“Islam and the Constitutional Foundations of Pakistan”, in: Rainer Grote, Tilmann Roeder (eds.), Constitutionalism in Islamic Countries: Between Upheaval and Continuity, Oxford University Press, 2012, pp. 171-199.

“The Role of Environmental Tribunals in Pakistan: Challenges and Prospects in: 20 Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law (2018), pp 1-48.

“More Law, More Crime”? The Pitfalls of Illegal Dispossesion Act 2005”, in: 19 Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law (2016), pp 351-376.

22 Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law (2022)
21 Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law (2020)
20 Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law (2018)
19 Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law (2016)
18 Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law (2017)
17 Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law (2013)
16 Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law (2010)

15 Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law (2011)
14 Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law (2008)
13 Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law (2006)
12 Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law (2005)
11 Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law (2004)
10 Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law (2003)
09 Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law (2002)
08 Yearbook of Islamic and Middle Eastern Law (2001)

Judicial and Professional Training

Academic Director of:

  • Lord Chancellor’s Chinese Judges Training Programme (1997-2010)
  • Dubai International Financial Centre Court Judges’ Training Programme (2007-2009)
  • Qatar International Financial Centre Court Judges’ Training Programme (2009-2012)
  • Young Chinese Lawyers’ Professional Training Course (2008-2010)

Commissioned Reports

The Human Rights Situation of the Ahmadiyya Community: A Report of the Parliamentary Human Rights’ Group’s Fact-finding Mission to Pakistan, London: PHRG, 2010, (pp. 54) (principal author)

A Long March to Justice: A Report on Judicial Independence and Integrity in Pakistan, London: International Bar Association, Human Rights Institute, September 2009. (rapporteur and principal author) (124 pp.)

How does the donor community approach legal pluralism? Discussion Note for the World Bank Headline Seminar III: Rule of Law in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Situations/Informal and Formal Systems of Rule of Law, July 2009. (6 pp.)

Review of Rule of Law Support by the British Embassy, Kabul and DFID Afghanistan, Classified Report, Commissioned by the British Embassy Programme Office Kabul and the Afghan Inter Departmental Drugs Unit, June 2009. (27 pp.)

National Justice Sector Strategy, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan/Afghanistan National Development Strategy, Kabul, 2008. (co-author on behalf of the European Commission) (62 pp.)

National Justice Programme, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan/Afghanistan National Development Strategy, Kabul, 2008. (co-author on behalf of the European Commission) (258 pp.)