In recent weeks, in Batto Chandio village in Khairpur, Sindh, a 19-year-old woman, Rubina Chandio, was shot dead in the presence of dozens of villagers. Her crime was that she had married a man of her own choice. The matter was taken to a jirga, which decided that she had brought dishonour to the tribe. To restore that honour, she was made to “wash the stain” with her blood. This is not the first time something like this has happened. Similar incidents have happened before and, without substantial reform in how such forums function, there is little reason to think they will not recur.

Rubina’s extrajudicial killing triggered widespread public outrage across Pakistan, once again drawing attention to the continued authority exercised by extra-legal forums operating beyond the bounds of statutory law and constitutional guarantees.

It is against this backdrop that the government is considering measures to reform the jirga system. These include its formalisation as an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism, beginning in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The objective is to integrate existing customary dispute-resolution practices within a regulated legal framework, particularly in regions where access to formal courts remains constrained by delay, resource limitations, geographical distance, and a backlog of pending........

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