Communication on Progress

Communication on Progress

Participant
Published
  • 08-Sep-2016
Time period
  • September 2015  –  September 2016
Format
  • Stand alone document – Basic COP Template
Differentiation Level
  • This COP qualifies for the Global Compact Active level
Self-assessment
  • Includes a CEO statement of continued support for the UN Global Compact and its ten principles
  • Description of actions or relevant policies related to Human Rights
  • Description of actions or relevant policies related to Labour
  • Description of actions or relevant policies related to Environment
  • Description of actions or relevant policies related to Anti-Corruption
  • Includes a measurement of outcomes
 
  • Statement of continued support by the Chief Executive Officer

  • Statement of the company's chief executive (CEO or equivalent) expressing continued support for the Global Compact and renewing the company's ongoing commitment to the initiative and its principles.

  • 8 September 2016

    To our stakeholders:

    I am pleased to confirm that Akhund Forbes - Corporate and Commercial Law Firm reaffirms its support of the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact in the areas of Human Rights, Labour, Environment and Anti-Corruption.

    In this annual Communication on Progress, we describe our actions to continually improve the integration of the Global Compact and its principles into our business strategy, culture and daily operations. We also commit to share this information with our stakeholders using our primary channels of communication.

    Sincerely yours,

    Rabel Z. Akhund
    Managing Partner

Human Rights
  • Assessment, policy and goals

  • Description of the relevance of human rights for the company (i.e. human rights risk-assessment). Description of policies, public commitments and company goals on Human Rights.

  • As a corporate and commercial law firm that is deeply involved in its clients' business needs, we have the ability to guide our clients on how they can make the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (which we fully support) as part of their business ethics. Akhund Forbes has been doing so through its public commitment to the Guiding Principles and intends to step up its efforts in this regard in the upcoming year.

  • Implementation

  • Description of concrete actions to implement Human Rights policies, address Human Rights risks and respond to Human Rights violations.

  • We have allocated responsibility for protection of Human Rights within the firm between different partners and continue to monitor progress.

  • Measurement of outcomes

  • Description of how the company monitors and evaluates performance.

  • So far we have not had any Human Rights violations but we ensure a respect of mutual trust and respect exists throughout the firm. The firm carries out its own internal assessment which is sufficient due to its size.

Labour
  • Assessment, policy and goals

  • Description of the relevance of labour rights for the company (i.e. labour rights-related risks and opportunities). Description of written policies, public commitments and company goals on labour rights.

  • All our employment contracts contain our statement of conduct in line with our ethos and generally accepted standards of practice. Our employment contracts for certain staff members need to be elaborated to expressly cover the Ten Guiding principles and we intend to do so in the upcoming year. We always pay more than the minimum wage and this is known to all our clerical and support staff members.

  • Implementation

  • Description of concrete actions taken by the company to implement labour policies, address labour risks and respond to labour violations.

  • We provide our staff with additional benefits such as free schooling for their children after they become permanent and assistance with medical care. We find this greatly benefits them in a country like Pakistan where the government at times fails in providing basic services such as universal healthcare and free education. The law firm has more female lawyers than male lawyers ensuring that there is no discrimination on the basis of sex.

  • Measurement of outcomes

  • Description of how the company monitors and evaluates performance.

  • Due to the small size of our organisation the senior management is fully involved in monitoring our labour relations performance and we have found it to be satisfactory. With an open door policy our staff members feel free to bring up any greviance personally to us and this applies to ALL levels of employees.

Environment
  • Assessment, policy and goals

  • Description of the relevance of environmental protection for the company (i.e. environmental risks and opportunities). Description of policies, public commitments and company goals on environmental protection.

  • Since Pakistan is a water stressed country, Akhund Forbes has a strict policy of water management and conservation which is rigorously enforced by all staff members.

  • Implementation

  • Description of concrete actions to implement environmental policies, address environmental risks and respond to environmental incidents.

  • Employees are trained and regularly reminded of our water conservation policy and we have a water management officer to ensure this policy is enforced at all levels of staff with the cooperation of the Managing Partner.

  • Measurement of outcomes

  • Description of how the company monitors and evaluates environmental performance.

  • Review is conducted by senior management periodically which we find is sufficient given our size.

Anti-Corruption
  • Assessment, policy and goals

  • Description of the relevance of anti-corruption for the company (i.e. anti-corruption risk-assessment). Description of policies, public commitments and company goals on anti-corruption.

  • Akhund Forbes assessed its risk of corruption being a leading corporate and commercial law firm in Pakistan. We found that for non-litigation matters the risk of corruption is minimal whereas there is greater risk of corruption in litigation matters where there is interaction with the Pakistani juldicial system. Accordingly, Akhund Forbes has reduced its litigation portfolio and focuses only on high value corporate and commercial work where there is little to no risk of corruption. Even then, Akhund Forbes makes it clear as a policy statement to all our clients and stakeholders that stand against corruption in the legal profession and this is meticulously enforced. Where corporate and commercial law firms are involved in commoditised/bulk work, they can come across corruption in the corporate sector as well due to the pricing wars involved. However, given the fact that Akhund Forbes focuses on high value transactional work, we are shielded from such corruption because of our interaction mainly with C-Suite management at our client level. We intend to further disseminate our zero-tolerance policy to corruption and bribery to all our stakeholders in the coming year.

  • Implementation

  • Description of concrete actions to implement anti-corruption policies, address anti-corruption risks and respond to incidents.

  • The Managing Partner is himself responsible for the anti-corruption policy implementation within the firm and we are always making our staff aware of the same.

  • Measurement of outcomes

  • Description of how the company monitors and evaluates anti-corruption performance.

  • Our monitoring is done by our own management team/partners at the law firm and given our size we find this to be sufficient.