Karachi, Pakistan, August 30, 2005
—The International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, collaborated with Pakistan’s Ministry of Law, Justice, and Human Rights in holding a workshop today on alternative dispute resolution and mediation in Pakistan.
The event was organized by the Private Enterprise Partnership for the Middle East and North Africa (PEP-MENA), IFC’s technical assistance facility supporting private sector development in 19 countries from Pakistan to Morocco.
The workshop precedes the launch of an IFC pilot project on ADR and mediation and provided a forum to raise awareness of these practices and share experiences from other countries. As part of its support to private sector development in Pakistan, PEP-MENA plans to promote ADR through mediation as a key means of improving the business enabling environment. It will mitigate expensive and lengthy court procedures, help extricate SMEs from business-hindering litigation, and unblock assets caught up in disputes. Pakistan’s commercial dispute settlement processes are widely considered inadequate, inefficient, and an obstacle to market-based growth and to domestic and foreign investment. Small and medium enterprises commonly face five-to-10 year litigation processes, and courts are backlogged with over a million cases, a third of them commercial. Some 90 percent of cases eventually go to trial in the current system.
The IFC ADR/Mediation project proposes to establish a pilot mediation centre in Karachi that will support court-referred mediation and serve as model for the country and the region. The project will also review and amend laws to improve compliance with model laws on ADR and mediation; draft by-laws and court rules that will enforce ADR and empower judges to apply mediation; professionalize ADR and mediation in Pakistan through training and accreditation of mediators; and roll out a campaign to raise public awareness and promote ADR and mediation.
The workshop drew upon local and international expertise. It was attended by key members of the Pakistani judiciary, bar, and private sector as well as senior judges and ADR and mediation practitioners from the United Kingdom, India, and Uganda. Distinguished speakers included the Right Honorable Lord Justice Carnwath (U.K.); the Honorable Justice Ahmadi, Former Supreme Court Chief Justice of India; the Honorable Justice James Ogoola, Principle Judge of the High Court of Uganda; and Mr. Ronald Bradbeer, Commercial Litigation Solicitor and Solve Mediator and Faculty Member at the Centre for Dispute Resolution (U.K.).
Jesper Kjaer, general manager of IFC’s facility, said, “The workshop represents a high-profile forum in which international ADR and mediation experts, the Pakistani delegation, and IFC have come together to fuse their experience, knowledge, and ideas. The caliber of this workshop helps ensure that the pilot ADR/Mediation project will draw upon international best practices while effectively addressing specific needs of the private sector. It will especially help SMEs in Pakistan that seek timely and cost-effective means to resolve commercial disputes.”
The mission of IFC (
www.ifc.org
) is to promote sustainable private sector investment in developing countries, helping to reduce poverty and improve people’s lives. IFC finances private sector investments in the developing world, mobilizes capital in the international financial markets, helps clients improve social and environmental sustainability, and provides technical assistance and advice to governments and businesses. From its founding in 1956 through FY04, IFC has committed more than $44 billion of its own funds and arranged $23 billion in syndications for 3,143 companies in 140 developing countries. IFC’s worldwide committed portfolio as of FY04 was $17.9 billion for its own account and $5.5 billion held for participants in loan syndications.
