Access to Justice: Comparative study of formal and informal dispute resolution mechanisms in district Swat, Pakistan

Effective provision of justice remains essential for preventing wartime grievances into feuds and mass conflict in strengthening the state and improving accountability. It can lead to quick and cheaper resolution of disputes. This research focuses on evaluating the informal system of governance and justice delivery system in Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It evaluated the institutions of justice delivery (both formal and informal) in terms of structure, functions, and efficiency. The study reveals that informal mechanisms of dispute resolution is still preferred at large, despite the availability of formal institutions for this purpose. Majority of the respondents showed distrust on the formal institutions of justice delivery and dispute resolution across the sample population. This mistrust has been related to the ineffectiveness in terms of lengthy process of handling disputes of various types and the involved financial cost. Shariah and custom remained the preferred type of law to be adopted as compared to state law/statute for dispute resolution. The study concludes that state institutions of justice delivery and dispute resolution should work in collaboration with the informal institutions for effective provision of dispute resolution and justice delivery. A mixed method approach of depth interviews focus group and household survey is employed for collecting primary data.