The 10th Annual General Conference of the Ghana National Association of ADR Practitioners (GNAAP) ended on Saturday in Accra.
It was on the theme: 'Strengthening private practice of ADR: the Panacea to the long delay of cases in our National Courts.'
The event which saw the induction of new members, also afforded participants the opportunity to take stock of past years activities towards charting a new way forward.
The GNAAP is regulatory body of Alternative Dispute Regulatory professionals of diverse backgrounds including chiefs, lawyers, teachers, security experts, queen mothers, the clergy, business executives and Members of Parliament.
Aside practicing as mediators, negotiators and arbitrators, the group also provide education and research in ADR, develop and maintain high standards among members and also use the practice to prevent, resolve conflicts and disputes in line with Act 798 of 2010.
A Justice of the Court of Appeal, Justice Margaret Melbourne urged the members to invest in knowledge acquisition in order to discharge their duties within the confines of the law.
That, she explained was the only way they could build the confidence and trust of the public, especially the business community in the services they offer.
Justice Melbourne indicated that the country currently had about 400 Judges and Magistrates against a population of more than 30 million, therefore, a well-structured ADR would help reduce the burden and backlog of cases on the courts.
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"That is why I am encouraging you to build an enviable reputation that would put more trust in your practices by creating more awareness in the services that you render in other to give the option to adopt ADR as a better means of resolving problems instead of the courts," she added.
The Court of Appeal Judge charged the ADR Practitioners to fashion out modalities to entice more to accept or buy into their practices so they (Lawyers) would sell the idea to their clients that the ADR was a better option than the normal judicial processes that took a longer time to arbitrate.
She advised the members to endeavour to occasionally publish their success stories using ADR portals and additionally undertake extensive media awareness and documentaries.
Justice Melbourne urged the group to encourage specialisation among members in order to offer their expertise not to only Ghanaian businesses, but other counterparts in the sub region, explaining that such initiatives could help them benefit from the African Continental and Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) activities.
She hinted that the Attorney General would soon promulgate a subsidiary legislation to help in ADR practice in the country.
The President of GNAAP, Mr Daniel Owusu-Koranteng, in his opening remarks bemoaned the high cost of legal fees which had become the bane of the adversarial adjudication system.
He urged the government to invest in Private ADR practice in order to promote its activities towards making the country the ADR hub for the African Continent.
"Ghana is experiencing an increasing utilisation of ADR due to its clear benefits and its time government takes steps to boost mediation among the citizenry," he added.
