Lagos
State, Nigeria. The Lagos Multi-Door Courthouse (LMDC) said
on Saturday that it successfully resolved a total of 780 cases out of the 1,708
referred to it within the last 10 years. Mrs Caroline Etuk, the Director of the
centre, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in
Lagos.
Etuk said that most of the cases were
referred to the court from the High Court of Lagos State, adding that the 780
cases were amicably settled.
"The cases we have settled during our
annual Settlement Week since we started in 2002, ranges from breach of
contract, landlord and tenant disputes, family matters as well as defamation.
"Generally, we handle the whole range
of matters that we have on the litigation track. We had a lot of banking cases
as well. "We even had people coming in whose matters were not referred
from court and they wanted to be part of the Settlement Week."
Etuk said the outcomes of the settlements
were sent to the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) judges who entered them
as the judgment of the court.
The director condemned the poor response of
lawyers and litigants to ADR and attributed this to the low figure of cases
handled by the court in the last 10 years.
She said that the introduction of mediation
and arbitration into the legal process was aimed at reducing the number of
civil cases in courts.
According to her, embracing the ADR process
saves time, is cost effective and also helps in maintaining cordial
relationships between the parties in the dispute.
Etuk, however, said that the introduction
of ADR into the High Court of Lagos (Civil Procedures) Rules 2012, had made it
mandatory for lawyers and litigants to embrace the system.
"Under the new rules, when a civil
case is filed, it is taken to the ADR track and efforts are made to determine
if the parties in the dispute can settle the matter out of court.
"It is only when the matter cannot be
resolved that it is re-assigned to the litigation track and the case is taken
before the court for hearing," she explained.
The expressed the readiness of the court to
handle cases that would be referred to it as a result of the new rules.
According to her, the appointment of 10 ADR
judges and the recent training of 58 mediators, were clear indications of the
commitment of the Lagos State Judiciary to promote ADR.
She, therefore, urged lawyers to embrace
ADR, stressing that it would help facilitate speedy dispensation of justice.
"That is where the world is moving now
and we cannot afford to be left behind," Etuk said. NAN reports that The
Lagos Multi-Door Courthouse (LMDC) was established on June 11, 2002, as a
public-private partnership between the High Court of Justice, Lagos State and
the Negotiation and Conflict Management Group (NCMG), a non-profit private
organisation. The overarching objective of The LMDC is to facilitate dispute
resolution within the Nigerian Justice System.
It is the first court-connected Alternative
Dispute Resolution Centre in Africa.
AllAfrica.com 12/01/13
Lagos Courts Begin Mandatory Alternative Dispute Resolution
Lagos
State,
Nigeria. Pursuant to Section 89 (1) of the High
Court Law CAP H3 Laws of Lagos State 2003 as (Amended Law), lawyers in the
state will now have to contend with mandatory Alternative Dispute Resolution
(ADR) with the commencement of the new High Court of Lagos State (Civil
Procedure) Rule 2012.
The new rule signed by the Chief Judge
of the state, Justice Ayotunde Phillips, became effective December 31, 2012.
The new rule provided for parties to
comply with certain pre-action protocols as part of new Originating Process
requirements.
Lawyers and litigants are mandated to
first explore the ADR for resolution of disputes to be brought before the court
under the new rules.
However, originating processes filed in
court would be screened for suitability for ADR and only suitable matters would
enter the ADR track to the Lagos Multi-Door Courthouse (LMDC) or other appropriate
ADR institution.
The appropriate ADR processes, according
to the court, include consultation, arbitration, and reconciliation.
Where reconciliation is achieved,
settlements would be entered as consent judgment of High Court of Lagos State.
But where reconciliation fails, matters
would enter into litigation track in the courts.
This Day Live.com 03/01/13
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