A total of 65 cases with a value of Sh500 million have been disposed off through mediation in Nairobi, the judiciary has said.
The oldest of the 65 cases was filed 15 years ago.
According to judiciary, 242 cases were referred for mediation.
Of the 242, some 139 cases were from the commercial division with a value of Sh4 billion, whereas 103 cases were from the family division and one was a divorce case.
Out of the 139 from the commercial division, 25 cases have been resolved while the family division managed to resolve 40 cases.
The commercial division recorded six cases under full settlement whereas the family division recorded 23.
Parties in five cases in the commercial division entered consent, whereas three other cases are part settled. This means a total of 11 cases are still not settled in the commercial division and 17 in the family division.
Twenty-six per cent of those who opted to use the mediation method of resolving cases were between the age bracket of 31 to 40 and 51 to 60 years.
According to information from the Judiciary, 62 per cent of these people were well educated and held university degrees, whereas 23 per cent had secondary level education and 13 per cent had tertiary education.
According to mediation rules, the civil matters filed will all be subjected to screening and those found suitable referred for mediation.
Once a matter is referred to mediation the parties are notified in seven days so they can file a case summary. Three mediators are then nominated by the deputy registrar and parties informed in seven days to give them a window to indicate whether they agree with the choice of mediators or they prefer others to be chosen.
According to a statement posted on the Judiciary website, plans are underway to roll out the mediation process to all counties.
High Court registrar Caroline Kendagor told the Star that a team tasked with implementation of the mediation started its work in mid-February and has so far met with various stakeholders such as the Law Society of Kenya and law students in various institutions.
Also, as part of public engagement, the team held a week-long sensitization campaign in Mombasa and also held discussions with the Court Users Committee.
The Judiciary has also started training its staff to enable them understand the mediation concept, she said.
source: the-star.co.ke
