Use ADR to resolve disputes - Appeals Court Judge advises drivers
A Juctice of the Court of Appeal, Justice Angelina Mensah-Homiah, has advised members of various transport unions as well as drivers in the Eastern Region to take advantage of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism to resolve minor offences.
She said there were many offences which could be resolved through the ADR peacefully and at a limited period without resorting to the law court which normally takes a lot of time.
The ADR is a traditional way of litigation for the resolution of disputes which generally involves the assistance of a neutral or impartial third party (mediator).
Such a process, she said, takes a limited period and the public must resort to ADR which has enormous benefits, especially for the poor who cannot afford legal fees.
ADR Week
Justice Mensah-Homiah, who also oversees ADR resolutions, gave the advice when she addressed categories of drivers operating under the various Transport Unions at Koforidua in the Eastern Regional capital last Tuesday as part of activities to mark the ADR Week.
The participating transport union members and their drivers included the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), Progressive Transport Owners Association Ghana (PROTOA),
Heritage Transport Union, Co-operative Transport Union, the Koforidua Taxi Rank, among others.
ADR importance
The event which forms part of activities to mark this year’s ADR Week of the Judicial Service aimed at educating the general public about the importance of ADR and how court users can access it for a speedy resolution of cases.
Justice Mensah-Homiah said some ADR benefits included cost effectiveness, timely resolution, improved communication, preservation of relationships between the disputants, confidentiality, reduced stress and enhanced personal satisfaction.
Public education
She indicated that in view of the ADR benefits, it had become necessary to educate the public to go through that system of dispute resolution.
The Court of Appeal Judge further stated that settling disputes through the ADR had the tendency of drastically reducing the number of cases pending before the courts and cited an instance at a court in Adenta in Accra where about 500-700 cases were being handled by a single judge.
“We should look at the court as the last resort and I believe that once we do that we will reduce maximally the number of cases that are pending before the courts. One judge could have about 500 cases within a time period to resolve,” she stated.
Backlog of cases
In such circumstances, Justice Mensah-Homiah stressed that ADR was the only way to reduce the backlog of cases pending before the courts such as rent litigations, family litigations and land disputes among other petty offences to speed up justice delivery in the country.
According to Justice Mensah-Homiah, ADR should be the first resort for parties on petty cases that can be addressed without going to court every day.
Cases not suitable for ADR
Justice Mensah-Homiah indicated that despite the numerous advantages of court-connected ADR, certain cases were not suitable for any type of ADR.
Such cases, she stated, included child custody cases in which sexual, physical, mental, psychological or verbal abuse was alleged, disputes raising some constitutional, human rights or important public law and order issues, disputes involving interpretation of statutes or documents and civil disputes in which substantial fraud, forgery or theft was alleged among others.
The Chairman of the Koforidua Taxi Rank Number One of the GPRTU, George Boateng popularly known as Cooly Cooly, who was highly elated about the exercise, said they would now resort to the ADR in the resolution of disputes instead of going to the normal court.
The Chairman of the Koforidua GPRTU Branch Number One, Alhaji Baba Kankani, told the Daily Graphic that they had understood the concept of ADR and that henceforth they would embrace ADR at all times to settle their disputes amicably.
Writer's email: haruna.wunpini@graphic.com.gh
