Judicial Service to recruit trained mediators to boost court-connected ADR

Ghana’s Judicial Service is preparing to bring in more professionally trained mediators as part of efforts to strengthen its court-connected alternative dispute resolution program and ease pressure on the courts.

The move signals a shift in strategy. Instead of recruiting people first and training them later, the Judiciary now wants certified professionals who are already equipped to handle mediation work.

Justice Angelina Mensah-Homiah, who oversees the programme, said the decision comes at a time when ADR is growing rapidly and requires stronger coordination, consistency and professional standards.

She made the remarks during a meeting with Dr Francis Kofi Korankye-Sakyi, Executive Secretary of the newly created Alternative Dispute Resolution Centre, where both institutions discussed closer collaboration.

For the Judicial Service, the recruitment drive is part of a wider plan to improve access to justice by making dispute settlement faster and less adversarial.

Justice Mensah-Homiah also called for the creation of a national database of accredited ADR practitioners, saying such a system would make it easier for courts and the public to identify qualified mediators and arbitrators.

She further pointed to recent procedural reforms that allow judges to mediate cases with the consent of parties, and said more training would be needed if judges are to take on that role effectively.

Her comments were reinforced by Justice Kweku Tawiah Ackaah-Boafo, speaking on behalf of the Chief Justice, who said the ADR Centre’s emergence could help consolidate the progress already made by the court-connected programme over the past two decades.

According to him, ADR has already helped reduce case backlogs and encouraged quicker, more amicable settlements.

Dr Korankye-Sakyi, for his part, said the new Centre intends to standardise practice nationwide through a national manual and a Legislative Instrument that will fully activate its regulatory mandate under the ADR Act.

He said the Centre would focus on what he described as three pillars: resolve, reconcile and rebuild.

The discussions also touched on the future direction of ADR in Ghana. Dr Korankye-Sakyi argued for a stronger role for mandatory ADR in civil matters, while ADR expert Austin Gamey stressed that the success of the model would depend heavily on the cooperation of lawyers.

By the end of the meeting, both sides had agreed to deepen collaboration in regulation, training and service delivery, with the aim of making ADR a more central part of Ghana’s justice system.