Arbitration: K-P Judicial Academy to inaugurate mediation centre

DG says such centres will be opened in each district of K-P by the end of 2014.

PESHAWAR:

To reduce the burden of cases in courts and promote the culture of mediation in society, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Judicial Academy has established a mediation centre which is expected to be inaugurated this month.

The centre aims to solve cases through mediation by professional lawyers and judges, and is supported by the United Nations Development Programme. This endeavour is expected to bring further efficiency in the judicial system.

“The court will refer cases to this centre, where they feel that both parties are agreed to resolve their dispute through mediation,” said K-P Judicial Academy Director General (DG) Hayat Ali Shah during a press conference. Shah added that 18 lawyers and six judges have been trained for the mobile court, and more are expected to be trained in the future.



“Generally, there will be no fee charged; but if both parties agree on an issue and their dispute is solved, they will jointly pay an amount to the mediators,” said the DG. “Not only will the problems of individuals be catered to, but that of organisations as well.”

Shah said the centre will be headed by a BPS-18 officer. He added they planned on opening regional centres in the next six months; while by the end of next year, they aimed to have such centres in each district of the province.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 8^th, 2013.