A Critical Appraisal of Mechanisms to Expedite Disposal of Litigation in Pakistan

Abstract

The litigation before the court of first instance generally involved production and examination of evidence on issues and judgment by the court after a full-fledged exercise of trial through the prescribed procedure. Any party resorting to litigation has to inevitably fulfill the procedural requirements while the courts also ensure procedural adherence under the general law of the land. The presence of procedure establishes fairness and eliminates arbitrariness in adjudication. At the same time, the procedure or its technicalities could not be stretched to hinder the course of justice and adjudication of cases on merits. But the necessity of fulfilling the procedural requisites and going through the agony of trial entails time and expense involved in evidence giving, which are usually hard to bear by the majority of litigants. Considering such implications, the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 has laid down certain mechanisms available either before or at various stages of trial to expedite the disposal of litigation. The pre-trial mechanisms prevent citizens from frivolous litigation and disposal of cases through such mechanisms does not always mean decisions on merits. Generally, these mechanisms are available to save the genuine litigants from the agony of trial and protracted litigation at the hands of parties exploiting the law and its processes. The mechanisms available during trial expedite disposal of cases provided these mechanisms are applied in a simple and systematic manner. However, the question particularly to be answered is the efficacy of both the kinds of mechanisms and their role to expedite the disposal of litigation in Pakistan. Thus, critical appraisal of such mechanisms is necessary to answer such question and truly understand the implications of such mechanisms.