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Pakistan
The
Pakistani Legal Study was unofficially initiated in April of 1997, when ISDLS
was invited to meet with high-ranking members of the Pakistani judiciary because
they were aware of the enormous success of India's reform efforts in reducing
case backlog. ISDLS and the members of the Pakistani judicial system with whom
they met agreed that it would be possible to undertake a reform movement in Pakistan
with relatively little advance work, since the legal systems in both India and
Pakistan (former British colonies) are based on the 1908 Code of Civil Procedure.
ISDLS
began reform efforts in Pakistan in February of 1998 with the blessing of the
newly formed Pakistani Legal Study Group (PLSG), headed by prominent attorney
for the High Court of Lahore Zafar Kalanauri. The PLSG and ISDLS determined that
the lack of judicial accountability and managerial discipline within the court
systems was preventing cases from being resolved in a timely manner.
In
June of 1998 a delegation from Pakistan traveled to San Francisco, California,
where they determined through observation of the California court system and discussions
with various lawyers and judges that alternative dispute resolution (ADR), judicial
settlement, case management, and ultimately continuous trial would be the goals
of the Legal Project.
In May of 1999 the pilot project was initiated in
the Lahore family courts, initially with two judges settling cases. Their success
led the PLSG to consult ISDLS in the expansion of the pilot project. The PLSG
and ISDLS enlarged the family court project to include a total of four judges,
who ultimately enjoyed an 80% success rate in settling cases. By March of 2000,
interest was growing to expand the project into a more diverse range of courts
in Lahore.
A seminar entitled "ADR: A Mechanism to Combat Delayed
Justice" was held in May for members of the Pakistani legal community. The
conference was critical to the success of the project; it raised support and enthusiasm
for the reform movement. A survey conducted shortly after cited 90% of litigants,
80% of the bar, and 95% of judges as being in favor of the use of alternative
dispute mechanisms. It was also reported that the reform techniques had already
been used on a limited basis in guardian and ward cases, copyright and trademark
disputes, and negotiable instruments cases.
Despite setbacks and delays
caused by the shifting role of Chief Justice, in March of 2001 PLSG member Zafar
Kalanauri reported that an amendment to 89 of the 1908 Code of Civil Procedure
was being passed through as legislation. In October of 2002, Mr. Kalanauri reported
that President Musharref had promulgated the Code of Civil Procedure (Amendment)
Ordinance 2002, which created a legal basis for the use of alternative dispute
resolution mechanisms in any Pakistani court system at the discretion of the officiating
judge. In November of 2002, the Lahore legal community opened the doors of an
ADR center, which will further the education and understanding of lawyers and
judges interested in using ADR techniques to resolve their cases.
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