By John Bongomin
Justice and Constitutional Affairs Minister Nobert Mao has tasked cabinet and parliament to speed up the process to have an alternative dispute resolution law in place to address the current case backlog.
Speaking at the first ever high-level National Summit on Alternative Dispute Resolution in Kampala, Mao said about Sh8 trillion is stuck in commercial courts due to a lack of alternative dispute resolution laws to address case backlog.
Mao urged citizens to embrace alternative ways of settling disputes such as reconciliation, mediation, small claims procedures, and plea bargaining in criminal matters, saying that at the moment, the judiciary is suffering from a case backlog.
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is a mechanism for settling conflicts amicably without necessarily going to court.
Vice President Jessica Alupo, officiating at the event, noted that the government has already drafted a policy to this effect and that very soon they will be tabling it before Cabinet for discussion and approval.
The two-day summit has attracted several participants, including Lawyers, officials from Pepperdine University, Civil Society Organizations, Banks, technocrats from different agencies, and private sector members, among others.
Deputy Chief Justice Richard Buteera asked stakeholders to embrace alternative dispute resolution options, saying cases would be resolved quickly and timely.
Supreme Court Justice Mike Chibita said that it costs about three million Shillings on average to dispose of one case, but when, for instance, an accused person accepts a plea bargain, one can averagely spend only 100,000 Shillings.
In 2022, Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo indicated that through the use of small claims courts, mediation, and alternative Dispute Resolution, the Judiciary was able to clear almost half of the case backlog in the justice system, which stood at more than 300,000 cases.
In the developed world, 95% of cases are settled through ADR.