This year’s national ADR Week celebration by the Judicial Service of Ghana will commence on the March 12.
The week-long nationwide celebration, under the theme: “Quality justice-the role of ADR,” is scheduled to be launched at the Sunyani High Court in the Brong Ahafo Region.
Mr Alex Nartey, National ADR Coordinator for the Judicial Service, in an interview with ADR Daily today, said the primary aim of the annual ADR week celebration is for the Judicial Service to sensitise its staff and public on ADR as a core component of the Judiciary.
ADR has been adopted by the Judicial Service, which is running a Court-Connected ADR programme, as part of its adjudication process towards ensuring that access to justice is made easier, cheaper, non-adversarial, expeditious and flexible to all, particularly, the poor and vulnerable.
“The celebration also aims to advocate and create awareness of ADR in the public domain and to allow ADR practitioners to band together to resolve the numerous cases backlogged at the courts,” Mr Nartey said.
According to Mr Nartey “during the ADR week celebration, ADR advocates and practitioners would visit churches, mosques, schools, and numerous organisations and institutions to create awareness on ADR and to educate the public on the effectiveness and efficiency of ADR as a dispute resolution mechanism.”
Mr Nartey said that despite the official launch in Sunyani, there would be other celebrations held nationwide as part of the week-long event.
“The celebrations would be headed by Judges, Lawyers, and staff of the Judicial Service and ADR practitioners all across the country,” he added.
Mr Nartey informed ADR Daily that the week-long celebration would include numerous activities designed to promote ADR and would consist of prominent ADR practitioners, advocates, associations and organizations.
The ADR week celebration is held once in every legal term and is an initiative launched by the Judicial Service and spearheaded by its ADR Secretariat.
Since the passage of the ADR Act in 2010, significant strides have been made concerning the ADR practice. The number of practitioners and advocates has doubled, while the acceptance of ADR as a reliable dispute resolution mechanism by the public continues to grow.
By: Fred Gadese-Mensah/adrdaily.com
