Chief Justice Declares April 12 To 16 As Alternative Dispute Resolution Week

Chief Justice Kwasi Anin Yeboah over the weekend declared Monday, April 12 to Friday, April 16, 2021 as Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Week for the legal year.

A statement from the Judicial Service said the focus of the ADR Week was to reduce “the backlog of cases at the 131 participating courts.”

The week is under the theme: “Making our courts user friendly through the use of ADR”.

“The one hundred and thirty-one (131), comprising thirty-three (33) Circuit Court and Ninety-eight (98) District Courts shall participate by devoting the whole week for settlement of Court cases with ADR across the country,” the statement said.

It said a press briefing would be held at Ada District Court in the Greater Accra Region to mark the official opening of the ADR week.

The statement urged the Bar, disputants, the Media and the public to participate fully and cooperate with the Judicial Service to make “this legal year a success.”

ADR has been adopted by the Judicial Service of Ghana as part of its adjudication process dubbed, “Court connected ADR”.

The aim of the ADR programme is to ensure that access to justice in Ghana was made easier, cheaper, non-adversarial, expeditious and flexible to all, particularly the poor and the vulnerable.

Pursuant to this, the Chief Justice in a policy directive on the Court -connected ADR Programme, has instituted an ADR Week in every legal year term to give parties the opportunity to settle their cases through mediation and to run programmes and activities to create awareness on the availability of ADR as a compliment to the adjudication process in the courts.