ISLAMABAD – Speakers on Monday stressed the urgent need to prioritise mediation over litigation as a central pillar of judicial reform, calling for comprehensive legal and institutional amendments to operationalise the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act, 2017 – a measure they said is critical to addressing Pakistan’s staggering backlog of over 2.26 million pending cases.
The reform package, launched jointly by the Research Society of International Law (RSIL) and the Legal Aid Society (LAS), is accompanied by a report proposing targeted legal and institutional changes to strengthen implementation of the ADR Act, 2017 and ease pressure on the country’s overburdened courts.
Delivering the keynote address as chief guest, Supreme Court Judge Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb called for a fundamental shift in legal culture and proposed a new motto for Pakistan’s justice system: “mediate, don’t litigate.” Drawing on his recent study visit to Turkey, he observed that Pakistan already possessed many of the institutional foundations required to replicate successful mediation models. Justice Aurangzeb also flagged institutional weaknesses capable of undermining reform efforts, including prolonged vacancies in the chairmanship of the National Industrial Relations Commission (NIRC) and the vulnerability of commission members to executive discretion.
Minister of State for Law and Justice Barrister Aqeel Malik described Pakistan’s justice system as standing at a critical juncture. Referring to the more than 2.26 million pending cases across the country, he said the backlog represented not only a legal challenge but a human crisis – one bearing directly on livelihoods, rights and economic activity. He expressed strong support for the principle of “mediation before litigation,” arguing that escalating litigation costs had made reform an urgent necessity. The minister disclosed that legislation to implement the Singapore Convention on Mediation – which Pakistan has signed – was already being prepared, signalling the government’s commitment to modern dispute-resolution mechanisms.
Former Supreme Court judge Justice (retd.) Arif Hussain Khilji strongly endorsed mediation as an effective dispute-resolution tool, citing the Legal Aid Society’s track record of resolving two to three cases daily at a settlement rate of approximately 74 per cent. He pointed to Turkey’s investment in mediation infrastructure as a model worthy of emulation and said empathy for litigants must remain the guiding principle behind any justice-sector reform.
Mediation required not only procedural reform but also reflection and dialogue before conflict could escalate, RSIL President Ahmer Bilal Soofi
Presenting the report’s findings, RSIL Executive Director Jamal Aziz said that despite legislative and institutional progress, the transformative impact envisaged under the ADR framework had yet to materialise. Disputes were still not being referred to mediation on a meaningful scale, while case backlogs continued to mount. He attributed the situation to conceptual, systemic and institutional shortcomings within the existing framework and proposed a phased reform package involving targeted amendments to four statutes and two sets of rules.
The reforms, he explained, would begin with labour disputes before the NIRC, expand to wage-related claims and subsequently extend to commercial disputes involving claims exceeding Rs5 million. Mr Aziz said a substantial portion of the report focused on building an implementation architecture to ensure that mediation reforms translate into practice rather than remaining confined to the statute book.
Federal Secretary for Law and Justice Raja Naeem Akbar welcomed the report and reiterated the government’s commitment to strengthening alternative dispute resolution. He said the Ministry of Law and Justice had already undertaken training initiatives, was working on amendments to the ADR Act and was actively considering measures to make arbitration mandatory in appropriate cases.
Senior Deputy Registrar of the NIRC Saleha Bashir highlighted the specific challenges surrounding labour disputes, saying mediation could offer workers and employers a quicker and less adversarial means of resolving conflicts. Referring to the Industrial Relations Act, she noted that legal protections extended to all persons in employment – not merely those formally classified as workmen – and stressed the need for greater public awareness and robust judicial enforcement of these protections.
Legal Aid Society Board Member Furqan Ali welcomed participants at the outset and acknowledged the legal profession’s responsibility in tackling the growing case backlog. Concluding the event, RSIL President Ahmer Bilal Soofi said mediation required not only procedural reform but also reflection and dialogue before conflict could escalate. He observed that the principle of honouring agreements occupies a central place in Islamic teachings and provides a natural foundation for mediation culture, reaffirming RSIL’s commitment to evidence-based legal reform and its
