{UAH} MEDIATION AS THE SOLUTION TO CASE BACKLOG POST COVID-19
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MEDIATION AS THE SOLUTION TO CASE BACKLOG POST COVID-19
All aspects of our lives have been affected by the restrictions imposed by the government in order to curb the Covid19 pandemic.
These restrictions have had far reaching effects on professionals and the legal profession has not been spared for the court doors of courtrooms have been closed save for very urgent matters.
The legal profession was not included in the category of essential service providers save for a few urgent criminal matters that included bail applications. We were only left to practice law through e-platforms such as conducting zoom meetings, Webinars and emails.
As a result we are set to bear witness to an unprecedented number of case backlogs, a challenge that has always been experienced by the entire legal profession.
The case backlog brought about by the pandemic restrictions is compounded by the previously scheduled cases and as such the judiciary and the legal professionals must brace themselves to be bombarded with an endless number of employment cases, land matters, criminal cases brought about by a surge in the reports of gender based violence cases. This certainly will open the floodgates of endless litigation.
What then is the best approach of addressing this concern ?
The would be clients will most likely be faced with limited or no resources as a consequence of the Covid19 restrictions yet at the same time their rights and interests have to be protected.
This brings me to the fairest way out that could probably turn out to be a win win situation for all the parties involved. The solution is engaging in mediation with the concerned parties.
Mediation is a process whereby a neutral third person facilitates communication between disputing parties to assist them in reaching a mutually agreed resolution of the dispute. Mediation was first introduced in the judicial process as a pilot project under the Commercial Court Division (Mediation Pilot Project ) Rules, 2003 under Statutory Instrument No. 71 of 2003, Section 43 of the Judicature Statute, 1996, Statute No. 13 of 1996 and the Rules came into force on the 3rd day of August 2003 for a period of two years.
As a result of the success of the pilot project, on the 21st day of November, 2007, the Judicature (Commercial Court Division) Mediation Rules of 2007 were commenced and revoked the Statutory Instrument 71 of 2003 of the pilot project thereby fully rolling out mediation in the Commercial Division.
The mediation approach had demonstrated a faster way of solving litigation matters compared to a full blown trial.
In 2013 mediation was then made part of the judicial process where all civil actions filed in any Court were subjected to mediation save for small claims (this will be a lesson for another day) under Judicature (Mediation) Rules, No. 10 of 2013 and under section 41 of the Judicature Act, Cap 13. These Rules apply to all Civil actions filed in or referred to the High Court and any court subordinate to the High Court.
The mediation process is conducted by a "mediator" who according to the rules is a person eligible to conduct mediation and this could be a judge, a registrar, a magistrate, a person accredited as a mediator by the court or a person with the relevant qualification and experience.
Upon filling a civil suit in any courts of law but before it is set down for formal hearing before a Judge or Magistrate all litigants (parties ) are required to undergo court aided mediation .
Why every litigant and lawyer should consider and encourage mediation is simply down to its advantages that have been tried and tested as per the genesis of this whole procedure illustrated above.
• Mediation saves time for both the litigants and the court which is a timely solution to the endless case backlog.
• Mediation is a win win for both parties as it fosters reconciliation and mending the broken bruised relationship after the dispute is resolved.
• The parties are directly involved in the negotiations and thus make their own agreement under Court's supervision.
• No settlement can be imposed upon the parties without their will contrary to a full blown trial where court pronounces it's self on the matters and gives judgment.
• Mediation is much less costly than a formal trial.
The good news is that if mediation fails neither of the parties are prejudiced by the mediation proceedings and they can still pursue a court action.
Mediation has proven to be a very effective, tried and tested method for over 13 (thirteen ) years now and it is worth a try now more than ever before.
By Nassuna Victoria
Partner at Heritage Associated Advocates
--
-- All aspects of our lives have been affected by the restrictions imposed by the government in order to curb the Covid19 pandemic.
These restrictions have had far reaching effects on professionals and the legal profession has not been spared for the court doors of courtrooms have been closed save for very urgent matters.
The legal profession was not included in the category of essential service providers save for a few urgent criminal matters that included bail applications. We were only left to practice law through e-platforms such as conducting zoom meetings, Webinars and emails.
As a result we are set to bear witness to an unprecedented number of case backlogs, a challenge that has always been experienced by the entire legal profession.
The case backlog brought about by the pandemic restrictions is compounded by the previously scheduled cases and as such the judiciary and the legal professionals must brace themselves to be bombarded with an endless number of employment cases, land matters, criminal cases brought about by a surge in the reports of gender based violence cases. This certainly will open the floodgates of endless litigation.
What then is the best approach of addressing this concern ?
The would be clients will most likely be faced with limited or no resources as a consequence of the Covid19 restrictions yet at the same time their rights and interests have to be protected.
This brings me to the fairest way out that could probably turn out to be a win win situation for all the parties involved. The solution is engaging in mediation with the concerned parties.
Mediation is a process whereby a neutral third person facilitates communication between disputing parties to assist them in reaching a mutually agreed resolution of the dispute. Mediation was first introduced in the judicial process as a pilot project under the Commercial Court Division (Mediation Pilot Project ) Rules, 2003 under Statutory Instrument No. 71 of 2003, Section 43 of the Judicature Statute, 1996, Statute No. 13 of 1996 and the Rules came into force on the 3rd day of August 2003 for a period of two years.
As a result of the success of the pilot project, on the 21st day of November, 2007, the Judicature (Commercial Court Division) Mediation Rules of 2007 were commenced and revoked the Statutory Instrument 71 of 2003 of the pilot project thereby fully rolling out mediation in the Commercial Division.
The mediation approach had demonstrated a faster way of solving litigation matters compared to a full blown trial.
In 2013 mediation was then made part of the judicial process where all civil actions filed in any Court were subjected to mediation save for small claims (this will be a lesson for another day) under Judicature (Mediation) Rules, No. 10 of 2013 and under section 41 of the Judicature Act, Cap 13. These Rules apply to all Civil actions filed in or referred to the High Court and any court subordinate to the High Court.
The mediation process is conducted by a "mediator" who according to the rules is a person eligible to conduct mediation and this could be a judge, a registrar, a magistrate, a person accredited as a mediator by the court or a person with the relevant qualification and experience.
Upon filling a civil suit in any courts of law but before it is set down for formal hearing before a Judge or Magistrate all litigants (parties ) are required to undergo court aided mediation .
Why every litigant and lawyer should consider and encourage mediation is simply down to its advantages that have been tried and tested as per the genesis of this whole procedure illustrated above.
• Mediation saves time for both the litigants and the court which is a timely solution to the endless case backlog.
• Mediation is a win win for both parties as it fosters reconciliation and mending the broken bruised relationship after the dispute is resolved.
• The parties are directly involved in the negotiations and thus make their own agreement under Court's supervision.
• No settlement can be imposed upon the parties without their will contrary to a full blown trial where court pronounces it's self on the matters and gives judgment.
• Mediation is much less costly than a formal trial.
The good news is that if mediation fails neither of the parties are prejudiced by the mediation proceedings and they can still pursue a court action.
Mediation has proven to be a very effective, tried and tested method for over 13 (thirteen ) years now and it is worth a try now more than ever before.
By Nassuna Victoria
Partner at Heritage Associated Advocates
--
"When a man is stung by a bee, he doesn't set off to destroy all beehives"
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