The Chief Justice, Justice Anin-Yeboah, has asked Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) practitioners to uphold the principle of natural justice and ensure fair hearing of cases brought before them.
He said as arbitrators, ADR practitioners should refrain from being judges in their own court.
Justice Anin-Yeboah appealed to ADR practitioners to uphold high standards of behaviour to be able to dispense justice to the public.
The Chief Justice made the call in a speech read on his behalf by Justice Mrs Irene Charity Larbi, Justice of the Court of Appeal and Judge in charge of the National ADR.
It was at the 9th Annual General Conference of the Ghana National Association of ADR Practitioners (GNAAP), held on the theme: “ADR Practice as a Profession”, in Accra, over the weekend.
Justice Anin-Yeboah urged ADR practitioners to live above measure, to empower disputing parties to take full advantage of the options that ADR offered to seek justice.
“It is, therefore, not enough to obtain a certification of ADR practice without knowledge of cases that are not amenable to ADR.”
The ADR Act 2010 (Act 795), Justice Anin-Yeboah noted, did not only sanction the practice of mediation and arbitration, but also imposed on those who sought to practise ADR, an obligation to operate within the dictates of the law.
The president of the ADR Hub and Senior Lecturer at the Ghana School of Law, Mr Michael Gyan Owusu, called for continuous capacity building and self-improvement in ADR, to be able to resolve myriad of disputes involving disputing parties.
He also asked ADR practitioners to specialise in various aspects of the practice, citing the mining companies where the issue of compensation payment to persons whose land was acquired by a mining company.
The President of GNAAP, Mr Daniel Owusu-Koranteng, announced that the association, which was registered on January 17, 2022, was planning to become a professional body.
He said “Transforming GNAAP into a professional body shows our strength and unity of purpose.”
Mr Owusu-Koranteng said with the support of members, GNAAP was optimistic that Ghana was on the path of becoming the ADR hub in Africa.
He said “We are all proud that our names will enter the roll book as the foundation members of GNAAP to become the first ADR professional body in Ghana.”
As part of the annual event, a total of 12 new members were inducted, while a new logo signifying the new status of GNAAP was unveiled.
BY NORMAN COOPER
