'ADR needed to reduce case backlog'

Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb on Tuesday said that alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and mediation have become the need of the hour to ease the growing burden of litigation in Pakistan's courts.

The Supreme Court judge was addressing the launch event of the AOI x ICDRL Peacemakers Community (AIPC) held at the Pakistan National Council of Arts (PNCA), Islamabad.

The gathering brought together judges, lawyers, mediators, ADR practitioners, alumni, students, and institutional partners to deliberate on the future of dispute resolution in the country.

In his keynote address, Justice Aurangzeb underlined the importance of promoting mediation and arbitration, noting that approximately 1.82 million cases are currently pending across the country, including in the Supreme Court and high courts, posing a significant challenge given the limited number of judges.

He stressed the need for courts to actively refer cases to mediation, saying that this shift would only be possible if the judiciary itself adopts a willingness to divert suitable disputes toward alternative mechanisms.

The judge said a decision had been taken to train more judges, as well as law graduate officials in the High Courts and the Supreme Court, as mediators to encourage parties to opt for mediation, with such officials conducting mediation within their existing pay scales.

Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb further said the Supreme Court is in the process of establishing a court-annexed mediation centre with financial assistance from the UNDP.

He added that the Supreme Court currently has two accredited and trained mediators, while the Ministry of Law is set to launch a programme on Monday to train additional mediators.

The judge expressed hope that the number of trained mediators would rise to at least a dozen by the end of the year, enabling parties who cannot afford mediation services to be referred to the Supreme Court's mediation centre, where services will be provided free of cost.

The event also marked the launch of upcoming negotiation and mediation competitions, along with the official inauguration of the Peacemakers Community.

"By the end of this year, I hope to take the number to at least a dozen, so that parties who cannot afford to pay for the mediators are referred to the mediation centre, which will be housed in the Supreme Court […] for mediation to be conducted free of cost," the judge said.

He further noted, "When being responsible for choosing lawyers to be trained as mediators, I had to bear in mind that they had to represent the entire spectrum of law, ranging from banking law, service law, civil disputes, land disputes and so on and so forth."

Justice Aurangzeb observed that Pakistan has no shortage of mediators, adding that they are "experts in different fields".