Judge stresses need for mediation

National, Normal
Source:

The National, Thursday, May 5, 2011

By JACOB POK
JUDGES and district court magistrates should lead in becoming mediators because of the respect people have for the judicial system, National Court judge Justice Ambeng Kandakasi says.
Kandakasi told the launching of the National Judicial Staff Services corporate plan, the legislative arm must be praised for including the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) or mediation into the judicial system.
Kandakasi, who is ADR committee chairman, said: “I have every confidence that we will successfully implement parliament’s purpose for introducing ADR or mediation which is providing people with a range of options for fast, efficient and effective resolution of conflicts at low cost to disputing parties and taxpayers.”
He said ADR would render delays in delivering justice and serious backlogs in the courts as “something of the past”.
He said the mediation system would positively contribute to nation-building by telling the world that PNG had a fast, efficient and effective system of conflict resolution for commercial and other disputes.
“This process will help our rating in the World Bank Doing Business Report from a low level of 103 out of 183 countries to somewhere closer to places like Singapore, which are not the top of the list,” Kandakasi said.
He said the ADR was necessary because the ability of the dispute resolution process a country had to efficiently and effectively deliver decisions in a timely manner was a major factor in determining the business and other sectors level of confidence in a country.
Kandakasi acknowledged 17 men and women for successfully completing three weeks of basic mediation training .