Judicial Service Marks ADR Week

Chief Justice Anin-Yeboah

The Judicial Service of Ghana has set aside the second week in March 2020 to commemorate the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) week for this year’s legal term.

Chief Justice Anin-Yeboah, in a statement, said the ADR week which starts from Monday 9 to Friday March 13, 2020 aimed to give parties the opportunity to settle cases through mediation.

He said the celebration themed: “Making our court user-friendly through the use of ADR” will also create the platform for awareness programmes and activities on the availability of ADR.

It is also to reduce the backlog of cases at the 131 participating courts by 20%.

“One hundred and thirty-one (131) courts comprising 33 circuit courts and 98 district courts shall participate by devoting the whole week for settlement of court cases with ADR across the country,” he said.

He noted that Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) has been adopted by the Judicial Service of Ghana as part of its adjudication process which is dubbed “Court-connected ADR”.

Justice Anin-Yeboah noted that the aim of this activity is to ensure that access to justice in Ghana is made easier, cheaper, non-adversarial, expeditious and flexible to all, particularly the poor and vulnerable people in the society.

BY Mary Asieduwaa