Mediation easing court log Augetto Graig Thursday, October 16, 2014 - 08:00 News Judge President Petrus Damaseb has praised the system of mediation brought into effect in Namibian courts since June of this year. On 16 April, the new rules of the High Court came into force, introducing, for the first time in our legal system, court-connected mediation. Simply put, mediation is a process which the court requires, or the litigants choose, to allow the parties to try and settle a dispute pending before court without going to trial. The High Court’s mediation programme is an adjunct to the adjudicatory function of the court. The first mediation under the new Rules was conducted on 6 June. During the period up to 30 September a total number of 187 mediations have taken place, according to the Judge President. “The mediation reports in respect of 35 of those mediations are still pending, but of the 152 reports received, 88 (58%) resulted in settlement. This is a phenomenal success,” said Damaseb. “A remarkable feature of our mediation programme, of which I am justly proud, is that the majority of our mediators are private persons who are not court employees. That demonstrates the public buys into the court’s mediation programme,” he added. One of the reasons for the success of the process is that a, “negotiated settlement is by far better than a judgment which, invariably, even if a party is successful, does not guarantee everything it came to court for,” he said. Under the rules of the High Court of Namibia, the managing judge may at any time either of his or her own initiative or at the request of a party, refer the proceedings or any issue to mediation in an attempt to resolve that issue or part of the proceeding or issue by way of alternative dispute resolution. The Judge President of the High Court has designated certain case types in respect of which the court will require the parties to undergo compulsory mediation. If mediation fails, the parties have a constitutional right to have their dispute heard and determined by a competent court.
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 13:12:11 +0000
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