Assessing the Use of Mediation in Dispute Resolution in the Court System: A Case of the Brong Ahafo Region, Ghana

Abstract

This paper assessed the benefits that disputants, legal practitioners, judicial service personnel and legal aids gain from using mediation in resolving disputes. A sample of 60 disputants, 48 legal practitioners, 81 judicial service personnel and 10 legal aids officials were sampled for the study in Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana. Both primary and secondary data sources were used in gathering data. It was found that mediation is very useful for both disputants and legal practitioners as it was less expensive, very time efficient, and improved upon disputants’ relationship even after the process. The outcome of the process was also found to be very confidential and non-adversarial unlike that of litigation proceedings. On the contrary, the paper revealed some setbacks: there were fewer offices for the hearing sessions which often delayed the mediation process. Also, less professional mediators were available and not given enough incentives to motivate them help the disputants. Finally, the findings show that although disputants may initially feel hesitant and uncomfortable about alternative dispute resolution process, they later often found it very useful. Hence, they recommended it to court users, friends and relatives.

Keywords: dispute resolution, litigation, mediation, disputants, Ghana, conflict