ISLAMABAD, Feb 01 (APP): The Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) in its second meeting on Wednesday overviewed the progress made by the provinces and Islamabad Capital Territory and emphasized upon speedy implementation of the ADR legal framework.
The Judge Supreme Court of Pakistan, Justice Ijaz ul Ahsan chaired the second meeting of ADR Committee held in the conference room of the Supreme Court Building.
The ADR committee has been constituted by Chief Justice Supreme Court Umar Ata Bandial upon the initiative of law and justice commission of Pakistan for institutionalizing the ADR mechanism in the country.
Further, the committee has been mandated to ensure concerted and coordinated efforts at the national level to implement ADR laws across the country.
The members of the committee included: Justice Mirza Viqas Rauf, Judge Lahore High Court; Justice Adnan Iqbal Chaudhry, Judge High Court of Sindh; Justice Muhammad Ejaz Swati, Judge High Court of Balochistan; Justice Hashim Khan Kakkar, Judge High Court of Balochistan, and Justice Babar Sattar, Judge Islamabad High Court.
The Secretary Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan is the Secretary of the ADR Committee.
Representatives of the federal and provincial law & home departments, federal and provincial judicial academies also attended the meeting
The representative of the Law Department of Punjab informed the committee that the ADR law has been enforced to the extent of Lahore as a pilot project. The chair showed concern and urged for the implementation of the same across the province at the earliest.
Furthermore, it was informed the representative that considerable progress had been made in the context of establishment of accreditation authority in the Province. Moreover, at Lahore High Court steps have been taken to establish a dedicated directorate for monitoring data of ADR cases.
The High Court of Sindh has notified three mediation centers at Karachi, Hyderabad, and Sukkur. The training for mediators and judges has also been initiated. Moreover, for public awareness on ADR law various initiatives have been taken which were appreciated by the Chair.
The Home Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa also shared its progress, stating that in 20 districts have been notified and in the remaining districts will be notified soon.
It was further shared that a number of developments were also reported for Islamabad Capital Territory including the formulation of ADR Center Accreditation and Mediation Accreditation (Eligibility) Rules by the Islamabad High Court and Ministry of Law and Justice.
The Province of Balochistan also shared its progress stating that the ADR law had been formulated which shall be soon notified.
The Director General Federal Judicial Academy also gave the briefing on the Training Manual prepared for imparting training to the judges, lawyers, and mediators.
The ADR committee has emphasized that a unified mechanism be devised for the monitoring and collection of data on ADR cases. The committee also stressed an advocacy campaign for raising public awareness on ADR legal framework in Pakistan.
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