A Justice of the Court of Appeals who doubles as the judge in charge of the ADR, Her Ladyship Justice Irene-Charity Larbi has urged the public to make use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) as a go-to option in matters of litigation to help decongest the courts.
Justice Larbi who was speaking at the launch of this year’s ADR week programme in Ho, the Volta regional capital, explained that the ADR concept promotes friendly but expeditious adjudication, devoid of unnecessary expenses.
She said, “The ADR concept has served a complement to the traditional court system in making access to justice cheaper, easier, expeditious, non-adversarial and faster for the citizenry.”
“This has also helped in reducing the backlog of cases in the Courts substantially due to the mass mediation exercise,” she added.
Instituted in the year 2005, the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) concept was an intervention to ease pressure on the regular court system.
The ADR is also to create a platform that offers disputants the opportunity to play a key role in resolving their disputes.
Given the successes the ADR concept has achieved as far as justice delivery is concerned, Justice Irene-Charity Larbi expects that it becomes the go-to option for litigants going forward.
“After 17 years of implementing the Court Connected ADR programme with demonstrable, verifiable success, it is our expectation that in the years to come, ADR becomes not just a compliment to the justice delivery architecture but rather a major plank which would be the go-to option for seeking justice.”
This year’s ADR week celebration is on the theme: “Making our Courts User Friendly through the use of ADR.”
Currently, the ADR programme has been extended to 131 courts across the nation with at least five (5) mediators assigned to each of these courts.
Regional ADR Secretariats have also been established in ten regions across the country.
So far, a total of 635 mediators have been trained and assigned to these 131 courts connected to the ADR programme.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh/103.5fm/Faisel Abdul-Iddrisu
