Saturday, 21 June 2014

Arbitration centres to settle disputes



 












ISLAMABAD: The law ministry has prepared a draft law for an Alternate Dispute Resolution System under which disputing parties in civil and commercial matters would be required to first get their issues settled through mediators, failing which they could proceed with the normal course of law.
The draft law envisages that in civil and commercial cases, all courts of original jurisdiction shall require from parties to first go for mediation prior to permitting the cases to be tried.The purpose of the law is to get rid of delays and prolonged litigation in civil and commercial matters, which besides hurting the people have burdened the courts with huge backlog of cases.

The draft law suggests if as a result of the efforts of mediator, a settlement is reached between the parties, the mediator shall record such settlement on a legal document. In case of failure to bring about the settlement, the court would proceed with normal litigation.

The mediation job would be done by an ADR centre duly approved by the government for the purpose of arbitration. The courts may also refer the matter to a retired judge of superior judiciary or a subordinate court, a technocrat having professional experience in the field, lawyer from the panel approved and maintained by the high court or to an ADR centre.

Upon referring the matter, the court shall direct the parties to engage in ADR on the date and time fixed by the court under intimation to the arbitrator.

According to the draft law, the parties may resort to ADR even after legal proceedings have been commenced in a court and for that purpose may apply to the concerned court of law for resolution of their dispute through ADR. If either of the parties applies to the court for resolution of their dispute through ADR, the court would serve notice on the other party or parties. If both or all of the parties agree, the court shall refer the matter to an arbitrator.

The parties to the dispute would take part in the ADR proceedings in person or through an authorised representative, duly empowered in this behalf to settle the matter.The arbitrator to whom a matter is referred would try to resolve the dispute within a period of 60 days, extendable by the court for sufficient causes for a further period of 30 days and during this period the court proceedings would remain stayed.

If a dispute is resolved, the arbitrator would render a written award to the plaintiff or defendant besides submitting it to the court, which would pronounce judgment in terms of decision reached by the arbitrator.

The proceedings before the mediator or arbitrator would not be admissible before any court and the mediator or the arbitrator would not be required to appear as a witness or otherwise in any arbitration or judicial proceedings with respect to a dispute that is or was the subject matter of a mediation or arbitration.No appeal or revision of a decree or order of any settlement arrived at with the consent of the parties would be allowed.

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