This was at a meeting with the Ashanti Regional branch of the Ghana Bar Association, to wind up the Judicial Service’s CCADR Week activities in Kumasi, which had the theme “Building the Pillars of Justice Delivery through Commercial Justice ADR”.

                                              
                                                                         A section of Lawyers present at the meeting

The meeting with the Ashanti Regional Bar led by its President, Kwame Owusu Sekyere at the Court of Appeal Complex, discussed the role of the Bar in CCADR, particularly under High Court (Civil Procedure) (Amendment) Rules, 2020 C.I. 133 and District Court (Amendment) Rules, 2020 (C.I. 134).

A Justice of the Court of Appeal with oversight responsibility for ADR, Her Ladyship Justice Angelina Mensah-Homiah, who was supported by a team of Officers from the ADR Department of the Service, highlighted the vision of the Chief Justice, Her Ladyship Justice Gertrude Sackey Torkornoo, to improve overall court efficiency, whiles building a legal ecosystem that values and promotes goodwill among all stakeholders, using ADR.

                                                                      Her Ladyship Justice Angelina Mensah-Homiah, a Justice of the
                                                                                 Court of Appeal with oversight responsibility for ADR

     
Members of “the business community require expeditious disposal of their business disagreements, because delays affect their businesses which in turn affect the economy. It is at the heart of the Lady Chief Justice that we expedite the resolution of commercial disputes in courts across the country. We have observed that using ADR mechanisms is one of the quickest ways to resolve commercial disputes to the satisfaction of all the disputants. It is so because the parties themselves come to an agreement, they own the agreement, and it becomes difficult to appeal, which brings finality to disputes. The business community thrives on relationships, so we do not want them to litigate and destroy their business relationships. We as a Service have seen quite a number of cases, including high profile ones being settled by ADR, and we want that to continue”, she said.

She therefore encouraged them to embrace ADR and become its advocates. This is in view of the numerous benefits of ADR to the legal practice, including enhanced reputation.

“As Lawyers, I encourage you to sell out the ADR message to your pupils and clients and make use of it yourself. When you resolve disputes using ADR, you gain a reputation for being a Lawyer or law firm capable of settling disputes early enough, and based on recommendations, you will get more clients coming to you”, she said.
For his part, a Justice of the Commercial Division of the High Court, His Lordship Justice Charles Bentum, shared a defining moment in his career as a Lawyer, which changed his attitude towards ADR.

                                       
                                                                    His Lordship Justice Charles Bentum, a Justice of the
                                                                           Commercial Division of the High Court making his submission

“I remember a point in time when a young man, who had an LLM in ADR joined my chambers. He was settling all my cases using ADR and I became relieved of all my pressures. This made me rethink my position about using ADR myself”, he said. He also added his voice to the call for Lawyers themselves to embrace the Court Connected ADR, and urge their clients to do same. “Every matter that comes to court must have a cause of action. As a Lawyer, when you don’t have a cause of action you know, so try and encourage parties to use Mediation. The CCADR is for our own good, let’s embrace it”, he said.

The President of the Ashanti Regional branch of the Ghana Bar Association, Kwame Owusu Sekyere, was grateful to the Judicial Service for the session and hoped for continuous interactive engagements.  

 

                                 
                                                                     President of the Ashanti Regional Bar Association, Kwame Owusu Sekyere.  

The interactive nature of the meeting allowed for extensive sharing of experiences, challenges and opportunities in the usage of CCADR. The meeting further discussed Plea Bargaining and its benefits, citing relevant examples in the African continent, where it was being used successfully.

               

                                        
                                                               A representative from the Office of the Attorney-General shares his ADR experience

             
The meeting thus ended with a further call on the Ghana Bar Association to make use of Plea Bargaining in decongesting the country’s prisons.