ADR Secretariat Briefs The Media

The National Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Secretariat has organizsed a press briefing as part of its annual ADR week programme.

The  exercise was organised as part of an awareness creation programme and also to call on parties pending in court for a long time to opt for mediation.

The ADR was set up in 2003 by the Lord Chief Justice and stands for Alternative Dispute Resolution, a general term covering a wide range of dispute resolution processes, which allow disputing parties to resolve their dispute, in whole or in part by methods other than court room  trial.

Briefing the Press in Accra, Mr Senyo M Adjabeng, the National ADR Coordinator and Secretary to the ADR Committee said parties stand to benefit when they refer their cases to ADR committee.

He said, 'between 2006 and 2007,65% of cases referred to the ADR committee were successfully settled and five hundred and 583 cases referred to it between January and September 2008 have also been successfully resolved.

Mr Adjabeng added that the impact of the ADR programme is to help in the reduction in backlog of cases pending settlement in court and let all have access to justice especially the poor and vulnerable in the society.

The ADR coordinator said that about 162 mediators have been trained and assigned to various courts throughout the country to facilitate between parties in resolving issues.

He called on the general public, especially those who have their cases pending in court for settlement, to refer their cases ADR, for peaceful settlement by contacting the magistrate or judge before whom their case is pending, the registrar of the court at which they filed their claim and also the National ADR coordinator or their lawyers.