ISLAMABAD: Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb of the Supreme Court has called for a “mediation before litigation” approach to dispute resolution.
Delivering the keynote address as chief guest on Monday, he urged a fundamental shift in the country’s legal culture and proposed a new motto for Pakistan’s justice system: “Mediate, don’t litigate.”
Drawing on insights from his recent study visit to Turkey, Justice Aurangzeb observed that Pakistan already possesses many of the institutional foundations needed to replicate successful mediation models.
Justice Aurangzeb also highlighted institutional weaknesses that could undermine reform efforts, including prolonged periods during which the NIRC operated without a chairman and situations in which commission members remained vulnerable to executive discretion.
He joined former Supreme Court judge Justice (former) Arif Hussain Khilji and Minister of State for Law and Justice Barrister Aqeel Malik in backing a major reform package aimed at making mediation the preferred route for resolving labour and commercial disputes.
The reform package, launched by the Research Society of International Law (RSIL) and the Legal Aid Society (LAS), is accompanied by a report proposing legal and institutional reforms to strengthen implementation of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act, 2017, and reduce pressure on Pakistan’s overburdened courts.
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 also a human crisis affecting livelihoods, rights, and economic activity.
He expressed strong support for the concept of “mediation before litigation,” arguing that rising litigation costs had made reform an urgent necessity.
The minister said Pakistan’s signing of the Singapore Convention on Mediation reflected the government’s commitment to modern dispute-resolution mechanisms and disclosed that legislation to implement the convention domestically was already being prepared.
Former Supreme Court judge Justice (former) Arif Hussain Khilji strongly endorsed mediation as an effective dispute-resolution tool, citing the Legal Aid Society’s experience of resolving two to three cases daily with a settlement rate of approximately 74 per cent. He pointed to Turkey’s investment in mediation infrastructure as a model worthy of consideration in Pakistan and said empathy for litigants should remain the guiding principle behind any justice-sector reform.
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. He noted that disputes were still not being referred to mediation on a significant scale, while case backlogs continued to increase.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
Comments