Mainstreaming ADR

Mainstreaming ADR
CODE PAKISTAN is promoting peace, tolerance, and inclusivity in Pakistan.

Equitable access to justice through the legal system has been an ongoing challenge in Pakistan where the vulnerable populations are the first and most to suffer. Whether the difficulty arises from the stigma attached to approaching courts, the inability to afford lawyers or in understanding cumbersome court procedures, the result is that the most in need of justice are unable to access it through the mainstream legal system.

In response to this glaring problem, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) has been proposed as a more economical and efficient alternative to the formal legal system, which has been increasingly characterized with backlogs and delays in case management and disposal. With the objective of mainstreaming ADR in the legal and justice system of Pakistan and further facilitating broad-based access to equitable justice for all segments of society, CODE PAKISTAN is working with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), the Law and Justice Commission of Pakistan (LJCP) and the National Center for State Courts (NSCS) to implement a project for “Mainstreaming ADR for Equitable Access to Justice in Pakistan.”

A total of 12 two-day trainings have taken place across Pakistan, 6 with officers of the Pakistan Customs and Inland Revenue Services (IRS) and another 6 with relevant stakeholders of the justice sector in order to build their capacity to support citizens in resolving their disputes by upgrading their knowledge of various alternative dispute resolution processes.

The following trainings were organized under the project:

Trainings on ADR with FBR
Bhurban Training (March 12-14)
Karachi Training (March 29-30)
Lahore Training (July 12-13)
Peshawar Training (July 15-16)
Islamabad Training (July 26-27)
Islamabad Senior Level Huddle (July 28)

Trainings on ADR for Lawyers
Gilgit Baltistan Training (June 17-18)
Rawalpindi Training (June 29-30)
Islamabad Training (July 5-6)
Peshawar Training-1 (July 8-9)
Lahore Training (August 6-7)
Peshawar Training-2 (August 11-12)

Understanding the differences between adjudicative (litigation, binding arbitration), advisory (non-binding arbitration, early neutral evaluation) and facilitative (mediation, conciliation) dispute resolution processes could contribute to the development of an effective dispute system design by relevant authorities. The programme also offered a contextual perspective of the existing ADR legislation in Pakistan with attention to its implementation, development, benefits, reasons for lack of success, and potential way forward in light of the aforementioned.

In addition to a distinguished panel of local trainers, international subject-matter experts were also engaged during the training activity to share their expertise on the subject. The international subject-matter experts included Mediator and Supreme Court Justice of the Republic of Slovenia, Ms. Nina Betetto, President of the European Centre for Dispute Resolution and Former Minister of Justice of the Republic of Slovenia, Mr. Aleš Zalar, and Mediator and Member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia, Ms. Maša Kociper.

The trainings with the IRS officers culminated in the formulation of a set of recommendations that were developed in consultation with provincial officers from the FBR for the effective implementation of ADR practices for tax disputes in Pakistan, all of which have been discussed in detail in the report titled “ADR for Tax Dispute Resolution in Pakistan“. The report, which also narrates the evolution of ADR in Pakistan to highlight the strengths and challenges of provisions contained in past ADR schemes, was formally launched on September 7, 2021 in Islamabad in collaboration with FBR and NCSC. A separate launch ceremony was also held in Karachi on September 8, 2021 for the benefit of the Karachi Tax Bar Association and the Pakistan Tax Bar Association.

With LJCP, the project activity extended further to incorporate two other elements in addition to the training programme aimed at creating broad-based access to ADR mechanisms at the community level, i.e. the development of a draft convention for the establishment of an Arbitrational Tribunal and a draft framework for the establishment of a pro-bono Mediation, Legal Aid and Training Center (MLTC).

The following trainings were organized under the project:

Trainings on ADR with FBR

  • Bhurban Training (March 12-14)
  • Karachi Training (March 29-30)
  • Lahore Training (July 12-13)
  • Peshawar Training (July 15-16)
  • Islamabad Training (July 26-27)
  • Islamabad Senior Level Huddle (July 28)

Trainings on ADR for Lawyers

  • Gilgit Baltistan Training (June 17-18)
  • Rawalpindi Training (June 29-30)
  • Islamabad Training (July 5-6)
  • Peshawar Training-1 (July 8-9)
  • Lahore Training (August 6-7)
  • Peshawar Training-2 (August 11-12)
Understanding the differences between adjudicative (litigation, binding arbitration), advisory (non-binding arbitration, early neutral evaluation) and facilitative (mediation, conciliation) dispute resolution processes could contribute to the development of an effective dispute system design by relevant authorities. The programme also offered a contextual perspective of the existing ADR legislation in Pakistan with attention to its implementation, development, benefits, reasons for lack of success, and potential way forward in light of the aforementioned.
In addition to a distinguished panel of local trainers, international subject-matter experts were also engaged during the training activity to share their expertise on the subject. The international subject-matter experts included Mediator and Supreme Court Justice of the Republic of Slovenia, Ms. Nina Betetto, President of the European Centre for Dispute Resolution and Former Minister of Justice of the Republic of Slovenia, Mr. Aleš Zalar, and Mediator and Member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia, Ms. Maša Kociper.
The trainings with the IRS officers culminated in the formulation of a set of recommendations that were developed in consultation with provincial officers from the FBR for the effective implementation of ADR practices for tax disputes in Pakistan, all of which have been discussed in detail in the report titled “ADR for Tax Dispute Resolution in Pakistan“. The report, which also narrates the evolution of ADR in Pakistan to highlight the strengths and challenges of provisions contained in past ADR schemes, was formally launched on September 7, 2021 in Islamabad in collaboration with FBR and NCSC. A separate launch ceremony was also held in Karachi on September 8, 2021 for the benefit of the Karachi Tax Bar Association and the Pakistan Tax Bar Association.
With LJCP, the project activity extended further to incorporate two other elements in addition to the training programme aimed at creating broad-based access to ADR mechanisms at the community level, i.e. the development of a draft convention for the establishment of an Arbitrational Tribunal and a draft framework for the establishment of a pro-bono Mediation, Legal Aid and Training Center (MLTC).