The District Court at the Ledzokuku Krowor Municipal Assembly (LEKMA) is making strides in resolving more cases through mediation.
An average of five cases are said to be referred by the Judge to mediation during daily sessions.
A visit by ADR Daily to the Court on Friday witnessed two referral cases in which the Judge had urged the parties to seek mediation.
In addition, ADR Daily witnessed how Mediators tended in about five mediation settlements that were adopted by the Court as consent judgement.
Most of the disputes referred to mediation are related to rent, marital, indebtedness, trade partnership, family and community differences.
It was evident that the Court, located in Teshie-Nungua in Accra, was actively utilizing the Appropriate Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism to ensure speedy and inexpensive resolution of disputes, as well as cut down on the backlog of cases at the court.
Although the Court-Connected Mediators attached to the Court described the settlement rate as “high,” they believed that the results could be enhanced with improved facilities for mediation under the court.
The leader of the Mediators at the LEKMA Court, who declined to state his identity, expressed concern over the lack of space for mediation.
Currently, he said the Mediators hold mediation sessions on Wednesdays in the court room, since that is the only available enclosed space open to them.
The LEKMA District Court is one of the 107 District and Circuit Courts across the country that have been designated ADR Courts, under the Court-Connected ADR Progamme of the Judicial Service.
In 2017, a total of 3,486 cases were mediated by the courts, out of which 1,571 cased were successfully settled, representing a 45 per cent settlement rate under the Court Connected ADR Programme.
By: Fred Gadese-Mensah/adrdaily.com
