Stakeholders Reiterate Importance of ADR in Justice System

James Sowole in Abeokuta

Stakeholders in the judiciary sector, yesterday, gathered in Abeokuta,  Ogun State, for a conference on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and resolved that the practice remained the best for quicker and cheaper means to resolve disputes among parties.

The conference, which was the first to be organised, and participating judges drawn from various parts of the country, was held at Ogun State Judiciary Complex, Kobape, Abeokuta.

The conference was organised with support from the German Development Agency (GIZ).

Leading the call for deployment of ADR, the President of Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators (ICMC), Dr.  John Elachi Agada, said that the adoption of ADR would help a lot to decongest the court and improve on the challenge of access to court in the country.

Agada said that the deployment of alternatives to litigation with the use of ADR mechanisms such as mediation, conciliation and arbitration, would help to increase access to justice and reduce delay in delivery of justice.

He said: “Despite the gains of the judiciary and the enormous work the judiciary is beset with, it will appear that access to justice in the country is still a big challenge. Our courts are congested most of the time due to factors that are mostly beyond the control of the judiciary as an institution and individual as legal officers. This has led to the uninformed blaming of the judiciary over delay of resolution of cases.

“Therefore, the deployment of alternatives to litigation by resorting to ADR mechanisms such as arbitration, mediation, conciliation and host of others will ensure greater access to justice; reduce delay in justice delivery while also helping the disputants with options from which they can choose to address their concerns.”

He, however, said that for the adoption of ADR to be more rooted in the country, the judges must be ready to begin to issue order that will encourage adoption of the practice.

He said that judges must be ready to encourage the adoption and enforcement of terms of settlement as obtained from the ADR just like the court order.

He declared that attainment of efficient justice system in Nigeria would not only be beneficial to the country but also impact other countries in Africa given the big brother role the country has been playing in the continent.

Welcoming participants to the conference, the Chief Judge of Ogun State, Justice Mosunmola Dipeolu, said that people have been used to litigation that the concept of ADR usually unsettle them as they doubt its effectiveness.

Dipeolu said that “most litigants construe ADR as a tool to be deployed to make them lose their cases while many legal practitioners, are also not totally embracing it because it is construed as a tool to deny them their professional fees.”

She, however, said that since the law of the land supported ADR with its attendant benefits particularly as it helps to ease and hasten administration of justice, the judges in the country should uphold its implementation.

Dipeolu said: “ADR processes are cheaper, quicker, flexible, informal, and confidential and preserves the relationship of disputants and reduces workload of judges. It also helps to strengthen judicial modernisation, unclog the courts, and increase access to justice among others.”

Also speaking, the Ojutimoro of Abigi, Oba Olusegun Ogunye, said that holding of the conference on ADR was long overdue, in view of the importance of the practice.

Oba Ogunye said that many people were scared of the ADR because they believed that the agreement may not be enforced, but now that justices are more involved and captured in the nation’s judicial system, it is being embraced by more people.