LAHORE: Three disputes have been referred to the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry for mediation by the Lahore High Court. One has been resolved amicably in only two hours while other two are under process. This is a giant leap would help reduce burden of non-traditional cases from the honorable judiciary besides saving precisions time and capital of the business community.
This was revealed by the LCCI President Abdul Basit while addressing a Press Conference here at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry. The LCCI Senior Vice President Amjad Ali Jawa, Vice President Muhammad Nasir Hameed Khan, former President Engineer Sohail Lashari and Barrister Zafar Kalanori spoke on the occasion.
The LCCI President threw light on the development on initiative taken during the recent visit of Chief Justice Lahore High Court Justice Mansoor Ali Shah to the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
Abdul Basit informed the participants that the cases have been referred from Justice Anwar ul Haq and Justice Kazim while first case has been resolved in only two hours. He said that the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry is also planning to provide case assessment facility to the businessmen. He said that it would enable them to decide that whether their case is acceptable for the court or not.
He said that the Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry established the Mediation Center for out-of-court settlements of the business disputes. This Center has the services of over 40 experienced mediators. He said that support of Judiciary would make this Center more effective. He said that legal powers would help LCCI Mediation Center to resolve the business disputes at early stages that would certainly reduce the burden of courts.
The LCCI President said that the Lahore Chamber of commerce & Industry is not only putting in its best efforts for trust building between the government and the private sector but is also supplementing the government’s efforts aimed at economic revival of the country. He said that collaboration between Judiciary and the private sector would go a long way. He said that the Lahore Chamber has signed MOUs with government departments, associations and Chambers in Punjab.
Engineer Sohail Lashari said that the Lahore chamber of Commerce & Industry established the Mediation Center in 2012 in collaboration with IFC. He said that the objective of this mediation centre was to help local and foreign companies to resolve their business/commercial disputes out of court. In this way, companies are able to maintain a healthy relationship amongst themselves as well. He said that Pakistan’s legal system besides being over loaded, tends to take lot of time, as such mediation can be the quickest and most effective mode of alternate dispute resolution and at the same time helping lessen the burden on the Courts.
Barrister Mian Zafar Kalanori said that all stakeholders are satisfied and have no reservation on alternative dispute resolution mechanism that is getting momentum with every passing day. He said that we have to find out new ways for dispute resolution to save precious time and money.
