Procedural Barricades in the Way of Speedy Dispute Resolution

The purpose of civil procedure is to promote the just, efficient, and economical resolution of civil disputes. Although we have a hundred years old procedural lawin Pakistan but it is not free of loopholes which are always manipulated by some veteran lawyers affecting the speed of dispute resolution and even the decision of the court sometimes. To find out these procedural defects causing delay in civil justice in the lower courts of Pakistan the researcher conducted a questionnaire survey in six districts of KPK province. During the survey questionnaire was distributed among lawyers, judges and litigants. The findings of the study proved that the main procedural causes of delay were; lack of proper control mechanism over false and frivolous litigation, technicalities of the civil procedure, defective cost assessment system, lack of modern techniques like that of case management, unrestricted right of amendment of pleadings, and judges’ absolute power of granting adjournments. It is recommended to the legislature to revise procedural law by removing all the technicalities, and by incorporating provisions regarding the imposition of real costs on the losing parties, and application of modern techniques like that of case management etc.