Abstract
The study probes the subject of Mediation in terms of meaning, legislation and function. At the outset, it analyses the relevant legal provisions in order to ascertain the meaning of mediation in Pakistani legal system. The study has explored that the reason behind the intra-similarity of mediation and conciliation is the fact that maintaining of the technical difference between the two is not humanly possible. At the second phase, the study focuses on Pakistani legislation on the subject from three dimensions, in general statutes, in special statutes, and in area-specific statutes. It has explored the effective cause behind the incorporation of ADR enabling provisions in Pakistani statutes as the inefficacy of the regular formal adjudication system. The study also determines the meanings and limits of regional phrases of Salis (Neutral Person) and Musleh (Peace Maker) as used in some Pakistani special statutes. It has also pointed out the basic stimulant for inclusion of informal techniques of dispute resolutions in Pakistani laws. At third stage, the study investigates the functioning of ADR techniques with special focus on mediation in Pakistani legal system. It digs out the causes of its poor functioning , counting major of them as four; the non-mandatory nature of ADR enabling provisions, the little awareness of the general public about ADR mechanism, the unfriendly attitude of practicing lawyers towards amicable settlements, and significantly, the non-proactive role of judges in convincing the disputing parties to non-adjudicatory resolutions of disputes. At the end, It also proposes suggestions for making up the deficiencies and further improvement.
Keyword(s)
Meaning, legislation, Functioning, mediation, Pakistan, Pointation, Solutions