NEWS ANALYSIS: Accessing justice via Alternative Dispute Resolution

NEWS ANALYSIS: Accessing justice via Alternative Dispute Resolution

Concerned about the backlog of cases, high costs of litigation and delays in the court proceedings which litigants face in their quest for justice, stakeholders in justice sector are beginning to explore other means to justice.

As caseload imposes challenge to justice delivery, stakeholders further seek for ways to decongest courts of cases that ordinarily should not take the time of the court.

In traditional African culture, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is useful in settling disputes among family members as well as members of the society.

Perspective observers note that ADR is beginning to gain momentum worldwide as the preferred way of dispute resolution as more societies are employing its mechanism in resolving disputes.

ADR refers to any means of settling disputes outside the courtroom; this includes negotiation, conciliation, mediation and arbitration but mediation and arbitration are commonly practised in Nigeria.

ADR as popularly called has a constitutional backing, specifically, Section 19(d) of the 1999 Constitution as amended, provides for the settlement of disputes by Arbitration, Mediation and Conciliation, among others.

The constitutional status accorded ADR for the settlement of disputes stands as a complementary role to the judicial powers conferred on courts in recognition of the important role played by ADR in the resolving of various types of disputes.

In this light, the Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory, Justice Ishaq Bello, in his speech at the ceremony to mark the 2018/2019 legal year pointed out that the innovations in FCT new civil procedure rules aimed at the use of ADR.

According to him, a period is to be designated when the court will bring litigants and mediators together to resolve their disputes by the instrumentality of ADR.

“Thereby saving valuable time and money for the parties, and for the court; ADR has proven to be an effective tool for resolving cases.

“This initiative will hopefully assist us in our constant struggle to keep up with the increasing caseload’’, he said.

He called on lawyers and others to make use of the Abuja Multi door Courthouse designated for the ADR.

In the same vein, Mrs Joy Bob-Manuel, the immediate past director general of the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria, said that ADR procedures were cost effective and more expeditious than litigation.

He observed that it would not be all matters that should go to the court, especially civil matters, which could be resolved through ADR mechanism.

According to her, to handle the civil matters, lawyers are trained to understand the things involved in mediation and ADR, more so as civil jurisdiction is added to the council’s mandate.

“Civil cases which we have applied ADR involve marriages, tenants and landlords, land matters (the civil aspect), financial matters, most of which can were settled out of court.

“That is why it is good to have the skill to mediate and know what to do in ADR, because if you mediate, you give a lot more people service and you make them understand that not everything goes to the court’’, she said.

Similarly, Dr Patrick Njoku, former president and member of the Governing Council of the Institute of Chartered Mediation and Conciliators of Nigeria, said that ADR played fundamental roles in dispute resolution.

According to him, the ongoing national challenges such as the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities and insurgency can easily be resolved through mediation, conciliation and mutual understanding.

“Go back to the elder in a family or community to adjudicate over issues, sensitising people to knowing the importance of it, listen and even pay mediators who spend so much time and that is key; Africans have always resolved disputes through ADR’’, he said.

He, therefore, called for the integration of ADR into the western ways of resolving conflicts to make the society better.

He also solicited the use of the elder’s age old respected means of social communication in the society, reverence historical and cultural means.

Mr Joel Ali, a lawyer in Abuja, nonetheless, noted that disputes had been inevitable part of human interaction that might come in any form.

According to him, the increase in globalisation also led to looking out for simpler and flexible ways of doing things and achieving goals.

He said that the use of ADR would help decongest the courts of cases that ordinarily should be resolved without litigation.

“Litigation, consumes time, it is more cumbersome and expensive and should not use in settling or resolving some disputes which can be mediated on without going to court,’’ he said.

He also said that ADR ought to be practised to a point that it could be used more in election matters to decongest the court, matrimonial matters that he observed had been increasing and tenancy, among others.

Ali, therefore, called on his follow practitioners to start educating their clients on the advantages of resolving disputes outside the court room, using ADR mechanism.

A News Analysis by Edith Nwapi, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

Photo Credit: NAN/Google