The Role of Civil Suits’ Delay in the Criminal Tendencies among the Litigants: Evidence from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Abstract

While there is substantial evidence of delay in civil and criminal cases in Pakistan. However, few researchers have highlighted the role of the delay and the provocation of criminal tendencies among the litigants. Therefore, to cover this gap in the literature, this study features litigants whose cases were pending before the civil courts of the district judiciary and high court bench in Swat, Pakistan. The main objective of this study is to investigate the role of delay in promoting criminal tendencies among litigants. A quantitative research approach was utilized and data were collected from 361 respondents through the interview schedule. For respondents’ selection, stratified random sampling was used. The results reveal that there was a significant relationship between delay -independent variable- and criminal thoughts -dependent variable- with P=0.001. There was also a significant relationship with P=0.000 between delay and further aggravation of matter resulting in conflicts. The results further reveal that delay in civil suits between the parties may result in harmful thoughts, and actions for instance revenge. However, there was a non-significant association (P=0.640) between the independent variable delay and initiation of criminal cases.