Alternative Dispute Resolution Week Launched

The Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) week was last Monday launched at Dunkwa-on-Offin, the capital of Upper Denkyira East District, in the Central region, by Her Ladyship Justice Irene Charity Larbi, Justice of the Appeal Court.

The launch was under the theme: “Making our courts user friendly, through the use of (ADR)”.

Her Ladyship Justice Irene Charity Larbi, who doubles as Judge in charge of ADR, noted that our courts can only be said to be friendly when the adjudication process is expeditious, devoid of unnecessary expense and ensure that as far as possible all matters in dispute between the parties are completely, effectively and finally determined, with the multiplicity of proceedings concerning any such matters avoided.

According to her, the regular court system, being a right based process with its own strengths is characterised by factors that occasion delay and cost, thereby making access to justice very difficult.

The head of the ADR system said ADR helps decongest the courts, thus allowing judges to have more time in handling cases which are not amenable to ADR, as well as offering greater professional satisfaction to lawyers.

Justice Irene Charity Larbi further stressed the importance of ADR in the fact that these processes assist the judges to maintain a high sense of integrity with the resultant satisfaction and confidence of court users in the judicial system, whilst it offers financial and emotional relieve to the parties.

She noted that it is on the strength of these, that the Judicial Services has adopted ADR to ensure that access to justice is not hindered and mentioned one important benefit of ADR as the provision of a healthier method for resolving disputes over conventional litigation since it supports quality justice delivery.

The Justice of the Appeal Court urged the staff  to encourage and facilitate settlement of  disputes amicably between persons over whom the court has jurisdiction pointing to Section 72 (1) of the Courts Act (Act 459)  which provides that “any court with Civil jurisdiction and its  officers shall  promote reconciliation”.

According to her, the ADR programme has been extended to 131 courts across the country, with at least five mediators assigned to each of these courts.

She added that the regional ADR Secretariat, staffed with regional ADR Co-ordinator and staff have been established in all the ten regions, while a total of  635 mediators have been trained  and assigned to these 131 courts connected to the ADR programme.

“From January to  December 2019, a total of 6,209 cases were mediated, out of which 3,041 cases, representing 49% were settled, thus helping in the  substantial reduction of a backlog of cases in the courts, due to the mass mediation exercise”, she announced.

The post Alternative Dispute Resolution Week Launched appeared first on The Chronicle Online.

Read Full Story