Brief – Alternate Dispute Resolution
Thematic Stream: Alternative modes for dispute resolution
Problem: The Pakistani justice system is riddled with numerous procedural delays. As per an estimate, around 2.1 million cases are pending in Pakistani courts which shall be heard by 3,067 judges. The processing of cases in the judicial system is excruciatingly slow which hinders access to justice for many underprivileged and marginalized communities. Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) has the potential to provide an assistive mechanism to the courts for appropriate civil cases.
State-sanctioned ADR practitioners have been notified in Sindh and key stakeholders such as the judiciary have realized the importance of ADR. However, ADR is rarely used despite the dire need to ensure that sustained, indigenous demand for ADR is created and communities are made self-sufficient in terms of accessing the same. On the supply end, it is critical that a steady supply of ADR practitioners and supporters are available within the legal fraternity, and current ADR providers are capacitated to provide effective and efficient services.
Goal: To increase indigenous demand for ADR and to ensure a sustained supply of efficient future ADR practitioners within the legal fraternity.
Program Approach: With a mission to improve the justice system in Pakistan, appropriate civil cases are being diverted towards semi-formal ADR by targeting both the demand and supply end. At the demand end, sustainable, indigenous and tech-enabled mechanisms are developed to make communities in Project Districts self-sufficient in accessing ADR mechanisms.
At the supply end, supply of ADR practitioners from the legal fraternity are ensured through rigorous advocacy for reforms, and currently-existing ADR practitioners are enhanced through capacity building. The Program encompasses semi-formal ADR and does not include informal mechanisms of dispute resolution such as jirgas and panchayats.
Target Districts: Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Dadu, Khairpur, Larkana, Shaheed Benazirabad, Sanghar, Gilgit, Hunza, Ghizer, Nagar, Astore and Islamabad Capital Territory.
Components: Within alternate dispute resolution, there are three main streams of work i.e., Research & Advocacy, Legal Awareness, and Capacity Building of various actors across the Justice System.
Capacity Building:
A key component towards mainstreaming ADR is to build capacity of the justice system so that it supplies ADR practitioners and also creates community systems through which communities utilize ADR to sort everyday civil disputes.
At the Supply end, capacity building workshops are held with Judicial Academies and Provincial and Federal Ombudspersons to facilitate and improve the supply system of ADR across Pakistan. At the demand end, ADR paralegals across Project Districts are mapped and trained on ADR frameworks, conflict resolution skills, ADR authorities, and the means to reach such authorities to resolve conflicts. These paralegals from the communities help create a sustainable system through which awareness and information regarding Alternative forms of dispute resolution is made accessible. Capacity building and empowerment of key individuals at both the demand and supply end creates a system through which ADR is propagated and made more mainstream.
Legal Awareness:
In conjunction with the community paralegal model, legal awareness sessions are conducted with communities in targeted districts to increase awareness regarding alternate modes of dispute resolution.
Research & Advocacy:
Using evidence-based research as the guiding factor for all interventions, the programmatic approach is to utilize research to determine the future of ADR in Pakistan and also feed into the judicial system at various levels to advocate for policies and measures that contribute towards mainstreaming ADR.