ALTERNATE DISPUTE

RESOLUTION ACT, 2017

Review

MAY 24, 2018

AREEBA RASHID
06381313022
BACKGROUND:
In Pakistan, both, informal and formal ADR mechanisms are in practice. Informal mechanisms

such as Jirga and Panchayat have been used for administration of justice since long. These

centuries old systems may be good for simple cases but when it came to status quo issues, they

can succumb to elite capture. In many cases, these mechanisms have resulted in miscarriage of

justice due to absence of transparent and fair rules of procedure. For formal ADR, several laws

have provisions relating to its formation and legitimacy. These provision include the Arbitration

Act 1940, Section 89-A of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, Section 10 of the West Pakistan

Family Courts Act, 1964, and Local Government Acts of the provinces.

REVIEW OF ALTERNATE DISPUTE RESOLUTION ACT, 2017:

Recently, the Federal government has passed a special law on ADR i.e. The Alternative Dispute

Resolution Act, 2017. The Act provides the formation of ADR centre and a panel of neutral for

the purpose of the Act. The Act requires civil courts to refer certain cases for meditation,

conciliation or arbitration before proceeding for before or after framing the issues. Under the Act,

the court, with the consent of the parties, may appoint mediator, conciliators etc., to facilitate the

compounding of the offence. The Punjab province has also set up ADR centres at the district courts

with the support of the World Bank. These centres aim at resolving civil as well as certain criminal

cases.

After the parties convey their consent, the court will issue a decree for the settlement of their

dispute through “Panchayat”, as the bill calls the arbitration process.

If any party disagreed with the “neutral arbitrator”, chosen by the court from a panel notified by

the government, the case will be heard by the court.

The Act is for the implementation in Islamabad only for the time being so the word “Panchayat”

has been used that denotes that the Act is for Punjab.

Other than civil matters, the Act of 2017 also provides for the compounding of offences by the

penal of neutrals appointed by the courts on agreement of the parties. If the offence is compounded,

the case is discharged however, if it is not compounded, the trial will start in court of criminal

jurisdiction.

COMMENTS:

It says that compoundable offences can also be solves through ADR bodies,

however, the cases like murder, if compounded by such bodies, it could raise the

issues of fair trials and similar issues. Also, criminal cases should be tried by proper

courts instead of alternate methods for the sake of appropriation owing to their

intensity.

However, out-of-court settlements were already in vogue and appointment of neutral

arbitrator by the court will only make the process transparent and relieve the poor of

pressure by providing them a fair chance for reasonable settlement.