Islamabad:
The Supreme Court called for adopting a pro-mediation approach through the judiciary, in particular at the early stages of the dispute.
In a detailed four -page order written by judge Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, the Superior Court stressed the importance of raising awareness among judges and lawyers to identify appropriate cases for mediation and to guarantee their referral in a timely time.
“Judges and lawyers must be made aware of identifying cases adapted to mediation and facilitating their reference in a timely manner. The litigants should also be encouraged to consider mediation and other methods of settlement of alternative disputes as the first station, rather than appeal,” said the order.
The directive came during the hearing of a family dispute that the court, on March 15, referred to mediation. Sara Tarrar, a defender of the high court and an accredited mediator notified by the division of the law and the justice under the law of 2017 on alternative disputes, was appointed mediator.
According to the ordinance, the two parties actively participated in the mediation process and finally reached a regulation. Tarrar submitted his report, as well as a copy of the settlement agreement dated May 5, 2025, which was officially registered by the court.
The lawyer for both parties asked that a decree be issued in accordance with the agreed regulation.
A bench of three members of the Supreme Court, led by the chief judge of Pakistan Yahya Afridi, heard the question. The case implied a challenge to a decision of the family court which had increased the monthly interview for each daughter of RS30,000 to 150,000 rupees, in addition to educational expenses. The father had challenged the order before the courts of appeal, where his case was rejected. He then approached SC in June 2021.
After staying waiting for more than three and a half years, the bench finally returned the question to mediation, leading to a successful resolution.
In his order, SC pointed out that mediation was “not only an alternative to disputes; it is a paradigm shift in the resolution of disputes, based on the principles of collaboration, confidentiality and autonomy of the parties”.
Unlike traditional disputes, said the order, mediation allows parties to shape the results of their disputes through neutral facilitation rather than a contradictory judgment.
“It offers a non -opponent’s framework which allows the parties to shape the result of their own disputes, guided by a neutral facilitator rather than by a judicial determination.” The order has highlighted several advantages of mediation, including profitability, speed, the office of the judiciary and the greatest privacy for the disputed parties. Its informal framework promotes open dialogue and negotiations focused on solutions.
“The flexibility of the process allows the parties to explore creative solutions based on interests that a court may not be empowered to grant,” notes the order. “These advantages were remarkably obvious in this case. What years of dispute could not resolve, the mediation carried out in a few weeks.”
The Court observed that the use prior to mediation often leads to substantial savings of time and cost, reduces emotional tolls and helps to restore relations.
The ordinance cited the statutory framework established under the 2017 law on the settlement of alternative disputes and also supported by various provincial legislation.
In addition, the rules of ADR mediation accreditation (eligibility), 2023 and the rules of mediation practice (civil), 2023, consolidated the place of mediation in the judicial landscape as a general public for the settlement of disputes.
