A Comparative Study of Mediation of Divorce Cases Through Litigation and Non-Litigation in Pakistan

Abstract

The number of divorce conflicts in Pakistan has risen in recent years, which makes dispute resolution mechanisms subject to critical re-assessment. The article carries out an overall account of the comparative evaluation of the litigation option of deciding the case of divorce in the family courts and the non-litigation option of family mediation in Pakistan. With the current statistics of 2022-2025, of reports of the judiciary, it traces unfolding patterns of divorce and the reaction of the legal system. The paper briefly examines the legal system in Pakistan, and specifically, the Family Courts Act 1964, the Muslim Family Laws Ordinance 1961, and the provisions of mediation enacted by superior courts in an attempt to ascertain how reconciliation and mediation are represented within the court system and the alternative places of proceedings. The recent couple of years of judicial rulings by the Supreme Court and High Courts are examined to demonstrate judicial intentions towards accepting mediation in family conflict cases, reinstating the right of women to obtain Khula (judicial divorce) and requiring genuine conciliatory attempts. The synthesis of empirical findings is performed in a comparison of speed, cost, confidentiality, outcomes, enforceability, autonomy of parties, and ability to preserve the relationships. Through a table of comparison, the findings show that non litigation mediation tend to have quicker, less hostile and more confidential settlements, and may save relationships and obtain mutually acceptable results, and litigation on the other hand may have verifiable judgmental detections but at the sometimes high and more costly price of waste of time, and emotional neglect. The negotiability of the currently existing mediation centers and arbitration councils is also discussed, and such difficulties as low awareness of the general population, erratic enforcement, and cultural resistance to this change are mentioned there. The article itself ends up with the recommendation on how the mediation can be entrenched into the family justice system in Pakistan more strongly via the legislative reform, capacity building, and public-private sector ventures to make sure that the divorce cases will be resolved as quickly and yet as amicably as possible and the rights as well as dignity of all parties involved be preserved.