Congestion at courts: Judge urges lawyers to acquire mediation education
Jumoke Pedro of a Lagos High Court on Friday urged lawyers to acquire training in mediation as part of efforts to reduce congestion of cases at the courts.
She spoke at the 4th induction ceremony of the Associate Mediation Advocates in Nigeria organised by the Standing Conference of Mediation Advocates (SCMA) at Lagos Multi-Door Courthouse, Igbosere High Court on Lagos Island.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that mediation, as used in law, is a form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) used in resolving disputes between two or more parties with concrete effects.
Typically, a third party, the mediator, assists the parties to negotiate a settlement without recourse to the courts.
The judge said: “Once a case is brought to court, it takes a life of its own. There are procedures and there are delays which have brought about dockets of cases in our courts.
“We have seen cases that lasted up to 24 years in court, hence Lagos State, through the chief judge is looking for solutions to decongest the courts and we have found out that mediation is the solution.
“I, therefore advise lawyers to acquire training as mediation advocates and mediators to aid in resolving cases quickly, especially cases which should not ordinarily come to court like family matters and some debt recovery cases.”
Earlier, the Associate Convenor, SCMA, Mr Valentino Buoro, a lawyer, said mediation advocates, as strategic corps, were key to the new global dispensation of justice devoid of inhibiting technicalities.
According him, the journey to establishing mediation as the main stream practice is ongoing.
Buoro, however, expressed satisfaction that the judicial hierarchy in Nigeria had to discovered the need for ADR to reduce unnecessary litigations in courts.
He commended the Lagos State judiciary for launching a programme named, ‘Backlog Elimination Programme’, in which all cases that have been stagnated in judges’ dockets were to be taken out of court trial.
Buoro recalled that during the launch, the Chief Judge of Lagos, Justice Opeyemi Oke, directed that henceforth, “any case that remains in trial after five years would be moved into ADR track to explore mediation or arbitration.”
Buoro, however, advised that only lawyers who had been trained in ADR should be allowed to participate as advocates in such cases which were moved from courts to ADR for proper handling.
Also speaking, Mr Fola Alade, a mediation advocate, urged lawyers to talk mediation through social media handles.
He said: “Though lawyers are bound by the ethics of the profession not to advertise their trade but when you constantly discuss a particular issue, it is assumed that you are an expert in that field.”
Alade said lawyers also get paid while practising mediation, adding that a mediation advocate must be honest in discharging his duties to build integrity.
Mrs Adeyinka Aroyewun, the Director, Lagos Multi-Door Courthouse, said every lawyer should be “an all-rounder” by acquiring mediation training in addition to his or her legal education.
“Every lawyer should acquire ADR training to know how to advice their clients on the options suitable for their cases,” she stated. (NAN) about their