ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND JUSTICE DISTRIBUTION IN NIGERIA

Justice delayed, it is often said, is justice denied. In same vein, where justice is denied altogether, peace becomes  elusive .Justice and peace  are  like the two sides of a coin because  where there are equal right and justice, there is peace. In demanding for justice a people or society, by extension, yearn for peace. We need not, therefore, be reminded that the equitable distribution of justice is a sine qua non for the sustainable growth and development of any nation.

In Nigeria, the inequitable distribution of justice is reflected by the number of awaiting trials, huge case loads in the courts, high legal fees and and congestion prisons and police cells.

This has often resulted in loss of time and resources, emotional trauma and the vicious cycle of revenge which do not support the spirit of true reconciliation. Even at the traditional level, traditional rulers are no longer trusted, as many of them are known to have been involved in one fraud/corruption or the other. For this reason, it is difficult to rely on them for an impartial dispensation of justice.

From all these, it can be seen that quite a number of inadequacies are inherent in our Traditional Dispute Resolution [TDR] processes. It therefore, becomes crucial to promote the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution [ADR] mechanism among the police, lawyers, judges and community leaders as a way of reviewing and strengthening these traditional dispute resolution processes and accelerating the distribution of justice. The promotion of ADR among the police, for example, will enable them to act more as mediators between two or more parties in a conflict. This will help them reconcile parties rather than reinforce enemy images by simply throwing one of the parties or both behind bars. This approach could afford the police the opportunity to explore new concept in conflict resolution and inspire a new sense of collective security between them and the society.

Elsewhere in the world, mediation has been found to be useful and a more viable way of handling conflict. This is why the use of mediation is being appreciated by more and more lawyers worldwide.

Research has shown that parties favour mediation instead of litigation because of how the process works. In mediation, parties rely on help of a natural ‘’mediator’’ to facilitate constructive communication leading to voluntary agreement by both parties. It is a process in which the decision making authority rests with the parties themselves. In other words, the mediator does not provide solution for parties in conflict. Rather the role of mediator  involves  assisting  the disputants  in defining  and clarifying issues, reducing obstacles to  communication,  exploring  possible solutions, and reaching a mutually satisfactory agreement .An interesting thing about mediation is that through the process, parties are empowered by learning how to improve  their  conflict  resolution and  communication  skills so that the  next time  there is a problem, they can solve it on their own.

In most developed countries, mediation as part of ADR has been used to resolve a wide range of dispute without going to court. It offers an alternative to denial, destructive confrontation, prolonged litigation and violence .community mediation programs  deal with  varieties of disputes such as neighborhood and community dispute involving  neighbors or  family members ;family/custody dispute; peer  mediation  which can help friends and class –mates to learn the basic problems; and victim offenders  mediation, which gives an opportunity  for victims  and offenders to discuss eye-ball to eye-ball or dialogue for  restitution and possible reconciliation. The involvement of more Nigerians (individuals and groups such as children and women] in the use of ADR will,  no doubt, make the distribution of justice faster and cheaper, with the  aim of achieving  this, in mind, CCPPA has  organized  training  workshops dealing with ADR for lawyers, judges and  community leaders  in the recent  past. The organization hopes to organize more training workshops on ADR especially for the police in future. It also hope to train mediators who will in turn train others. This, it is expected, will strengthen our local capacity for conflict management and help to achieve justice.  By Denys Onoise