ISLAMABAD:
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has directed law ministry to draft an alternate dispute resolution (ADR) law and requested the National Assembly Speaker to constitute a parliamentary committee for developing consensus on this legislation.
According to an official handout, the prime minister on Friday chaired a meeting in which he was told that common people were facing difficulties due to absence of meaningful alternate dispute resolution mechanism and low rate of conviction.
Nawaz said the proposed law would complement the existing judicial system and help the judiciary to focus on non-compoundable and other serious offences.
“There is a need to bring reforms in the system of the ADRs in order to bring down the losses incurred by the common litigant and to reduce burden on the courts,” the premier said.
He said there was a need to scale up the use of technology in the process of investigation and prosecution to ensure fast tracking of the entire system. Nawaz directed that there must be a coherent and efficacious system of ADRs that is capable of resolving the issues of common man.
The meeting emphasised need for reforms in ADR mechanism in which litigants are provided with a forum to decide their cases in a cost effective way through mediation.
Nawaz said people selected from communities and villages on the basis of their competence, wisdom, and good reputation in society would be empowered to participate in the ADR mechanism.
“The system based on their participation will yield harmony in the society by settling disputes that the litigants are struggling to resolve for decades,” he said.
He said the Jirga system in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and tribal areas was a case in point that discouraged people from indulging in costly litigation and encourages amicable resolution of disputes through collective community action.
The PM directed to immediately draft the ADR Law, which, he said, would be circulated and debated through provincial and national conferences by the civil society, legal fraternity and political parties.
Talking to The Express Tribune, Federal Secretary Law Barrister Zafarullah Khan said it was the third meeting where the PM assigned them the task to prepare tentative draft of the proposed ADR bill till next meeting, scheduled to be held on October 10.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 4th, 2014.
COMMENTS (1)
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ
In simple words the judicial system of our country has failed and only rich people can afford it.