120 LAWYERS TO TRAIN IN ADR (PAGE 31)

Story: Abdul Aziz

One hundred and twenty lawyers have signed on with the Ghana Arbitration Centre (GAC) for training to acquire expertise in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR).
The failure of the Ghana Bar at first to embrace arbitration and develop skills in handling arbitration cases meant that the bar was ceding a major part of modern legal practice to foreign law firms, according to Nana (Dr) S.K.B. Asante, the Chairman of the GAC.
At an interaction with the media at the centre yesterday, Dr Asante noted that arbitration was a process which Ghanaian lawyers could not afford to ignore.
He said since the establishment of the arbitration centre in October 1996, response from the business community had been encouraging, with the centre registering more than 30 cases.
He said what hampered the smooth take-off of the centre was the lack of a permanent building for the hearing of the cases.
Dr Asante commended the Royal Danish Embassy for its assistance in acquiring a permanent building in Accra for the centre to operate, as well as the provision of further training in arbitration for lawyers and other staff of the centre.
He said 10 contract cases involving foreign firms and local investors were lodged with the centre for settlement last year.
He said the Ghana Bar Association, the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, the Private Enterprises Foundation, the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and the business community generally had all endorsed ADR.
Dr Asante said the public, especially the business community, had been yearning for more expeditious and less costly procedures for dispute settlement as a viable alternative to the normal process of litigation in the courts.
He said that phenomenon was not peculiar to Ghana, as empirical evidence from numerous countries attested to the existence of the near-universal problem of slow pace of litigation and its attendant high cost.
He said the idea, therefore, of establishing an arbitration institution in Ghana was mooted among a group of senior lawyers which led to the GAC being incorporated as a company limited by guarantee under the Companies Code.
The chairman said ADR mechanisms, such as the GAC, were to reinforce the framework for protecting commercial and economic interests and accordingly inspire the confidence of prospective investors.
He emphasised that the effectiveness of private economic interests in a market economy was contingent on sound, efficient and honest administration of justice
He said successive Chief Justices of Ghana, as well as the Judiciary, had actively advocated recourse to alternative mechanisms for dispute resolution to reduce the congestion in the courts and enhance specialisation and expertise in certain areas of the law, particularly commercial and investment law.
Dr Asante said Nigeria had taken a lead in that field and advised the Ghana Bar not to deny itself the opportunity to participate effectively in this exciting prospect by massively joining the Arbitration Bar.