DUSHANBE, August 26, 2008, Asia-Plus  -- A national conference of Tajik arbitrators will be held in Romit, Vahdat district from August 29-30, Asia-Plus has learned at the public foundation for the development of third Party Arbitration and Legal Support Centers, Arbitrazh.

The main objective of the conference, which is held by Arbitrazh under financial support of the UK Department for International Development (DFID, is to promote raising professionalism of arbitrators in Tajikistan.  

The conference is expected to bring together arbitrators, representatives of the legal support centers, local NGOs and international organization, as well as members of the working group that had worked on the arbitration legislation to share their experience and information as well as consider services such as mediation and arbitration trial.  British Ambassador to Tajikistan, Mr. Graeme Loten will also attend the conference.  

The conference participants will also be informed of land reforms in Tajikistan, solution of debt problems in the cotton sector, Tajikistan’s arbitration law, and commercial arbitration in the country.    

The Arbitrazh legal support centers, organized on the initiative of the DFID/TPAC (Third Party Arbitration Courts) project, are mainly involved in providing consultations, mediations and dispute resolution for the rural population.  The legal support centers are currently operational in a number of districts across the country.

The main objectives of the TPAC project are: improved livelihoods in local communities - reducing poverty in Tajikistan; introduction of a legal base for the operation of dispute resolution mechanisms through TPAC, including the possibility of the establishment of permanent TPACs; to establish an effective and sustainable third party arbitration mechanism for the resolution of land and property disputes in Tajikistan in support of the country''s land reform program. (This will include disputes over lease payments, allocation of land in-kind, redemption of property by former farm workers, disputes in the context of micro-finance operations and commercial contracts (input supply, marketing etc.); to encourage the participation of women at all levels of Project activities; and lesson sharing with stakeholders and other organizations (including donors).