*PM stresses need for coherent and efficacious Alternate Dispute Resolution system to assist common man, reduce burden on courts
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has stressed the need to reform the system of Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) in order to bring down the losses incurred by the common litigant and to reduce burden on courts while also stressing upon the need to speedily settle disputes.
The PM was chairing a meeting about the problems faced by the common man due to absence of a potent and meaningful system of ADR and the problems caused due to low conviction rate, at the PM’s House on Friday.
The PM was briefed about the international and regional success rates of ADR. He opined that ADR complements the existing judicial system and helps the judiciary to focus on non-compoundable and other serious offences.
“There is a need to scale up the use of technology in the process of investigation and prosecution to ensure fast tracking of the entire system,” said Sharif.
The meeting emphasised the need for reforms in ADR mechanism to provide litigants with a forum to decide their cases in a cost effective way through mediation.
The PM said that people selected from communities and villages on the basis of their competence, wisdom, and good reputation in society will be empowered to participate in the ADR mechanism which would “yield harmony in the society by settling disputes that the litigants are struggling to resolve for decades.”
“The jirga system in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and tribal areas is a case in point that discourages people from indulging in costly litigation and encourages amicable resolution of disputes through collective community action,” he said.
Directing for immediate drafting of ADR Law to be circulated and debated through provincial and national conferences by the civil society, legal fraternity and political parties, the PM also agreed in principle to request the National Assembly speaker to constitute a parliamentary committee for developing consensus on this legislation.
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