ABA Journal Article | Bringing Mediation to Pakistan

The October 2011 issue of the ABA Journal Magazine features an interesting article about the IFC ‘s Alternative Dispute Resolution project in Pakistan. In 2005, a pilot commercial mediation center was opened in Karachi. This center is expected to serve as the model for conflict mediation in Pakistan and throughout the entire Middle East and North Africa Region.

Here is an excerpt:

Backlogged courts, litigation-happy parties and risk-averse businesses may sound like the sorts of problems plaguing the U.S. legal system, but it’s also true in Pakistan, where a branch of the World Bank has been trying to convince lawyers that alternative dispute resolution may be a solution.

The International Finance Corp. started promoting ADR in Pakistan in 2005 when it began helping to establish the Karachi Centre for Dispute Resolution. The IFC, which works to encourage economic investment, became involved because of the business climate there. Roughly 90 percent of commercial cases in Pakistan go to trial, and the court backlog is estimated to be near 1.5 million cases, says Atlanta lawyer Glenn Hendrix, a past chair of the ABA’s International Law Section who has been traveling to Karachi to help train Pakistani lawyers in mediation.

Read the full article here.

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law, ADR, arbitration