This year’s Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) week has been launched in the Ashanti Regional capital, Kumasi, with a call on legal practitioners, business leaders, policy makers and the citizenry to embrace the ADR as a core component of commercial justice to ease the burden on traditional courts and contribute to a resilient economy.
The theme was: “Building the pillars of Justice Delivery through commercial justice ADR”.
Mrs Angelina Mensah Homia, a Justice of the Court of Appeal and in-charge of ADR deputised for the Chief Justice, Her Ladyship Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo at the launching ceremony.
The Chief Justice in an address read on her behalf stressed the need to adopt more innovative mechanisms for addressing disputes for which the ADR is considered to be constructive, effective and a most efficient alternative as well as a powerful solution in the realm of commercial disputes.
She said ADR serves as a versatile and effective antidote to the challenges of commercial litigation by providing businesses with options like mediation, arbitration and negotiation.
According to her, these methods allow for more tailored, efficient and often less adversarial solutions.
“Embracing ADR enables us to address disputes in a way that preserves relationships, reduce costs and promotes a culture of collaboration in the business world”, the Chief Justice noted.
She said not every dispute must be litigated evidenced by the fact that the establishment of Commercial Courts in Ghana and pre-trial settlement conference have proven successful and helped reduce delays in commercial dispute resolution.
The Chief Justice observed that ADR was a pragmatic approach, which could lead to effective and mutually beneficial outcomes and stressed that it is mandatory for judges to enquire if parties will adopt the ADR system of arbitration.
She said in Ghana, the Court Connected ADR serves as a catalyst and has shown a remarkable potential in protecting economic stability.
As a result of the benefits, she said the Judicial Service recognised ADR’s critical role in achieving fair and efficient commercial Justice.
The Supervising High Court Judge, Her Ladyship Hannah Taylor, on her part noted that the ADR is a significant alternative to court room litigation ant that it gives relief to litigant as it facilitates resolution of conflicts.
She said parties who resort to ADR do not only have value for their claims, but it also reduces Court work and time. The ADR system has been connected to 138 courts with 635 coordinators engaged throughout the country.
Twenty nine lower courts in the Ashanti region have so far been connected to the ADR.
Weeklong activities drawn for the observation of the 2025 ADR week include interaction with Registrars, Court Clerks, the Ashanti Bar Association, representatives of the Attorney General department, Ghana Prisons Service and others.
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