The Chief Justice of The Gambia has underscored the importance of Alternative Dispute Resolution in settling cases, saying the appropriate use of ADR processes saves time, is cost effective and a successful-results in a win-win situation, thus preserving relationships that could have been damaged by an acrimonious litigation process.
Hassan B. Jallow was speaking on Friday at a one-day International Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) conference, organised by the Judiciary of The Gambia held at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Center, Bijilo.
The event, held on the theme; "Enhancing Access To Justice Through Mediation," attracted renowned judges and legal professionals from Rwanda, Zambia, and the United States of America.
The Judiciary, he added, has plans to expand the pool of ADR Practitioners to include non-lawyers from every sector of the economy as obtains in other jurisdiction such as the United States, where the use of ADR is very much part and parcel of the justice delivery system and where close to 75% of cases are settled by some form of ADR before they reach trial stage.
"I once again wish to remind legal practitioners and all other stakeholders that under the new Rules of Court, for most types of cases, a party is required to have tried ADR before filing a matter in court, and once in court, referral to ADR is also compulsory, even though the settling of cases by means of ADR is voluntary and party driven, where the interest of the litigants is at the centre on the process."
He indicated that, also using "our very limited financial resources", the Judiciary is now providing adequately equipped premises to mediators for dealing with cases referred for mediation by Judges as required by the High Court ADR Rules 2023.
The main purpose of reviving the Court Connected ADR system, he went on, is to decongest the courts by significantly reducing the number of cases Judges have to deal with at trial level, thus freeing up precious judicial resources, and giving judicial officers more time to handle really contentious matters and those of greater public importance.
CJ thus called on all to support the process so as to make it a success, not just for the Judiciary but for the entire economy, as it could increase investor confidence in the country, and by extension for the people in general, in terms of better access to justice.
