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Categories:Litigation / Dispute Resolution,Other

Nigeria brings in ADR as part of court reforms

2 August 2004

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Brendan Malkin

A massive programme of court modernisation is underway in Nigeria, aimed at stamping out delays and corruption in the legal system.

The changes are the result of civil justice reforms brought in earlier this year, the most significant of which is the introduction of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) centres handling mediations and arbitrations in the High Courts in Abuja and Lagos. Similar facilities are also proposed for Ibadan and Port Harcourt.

It is anticipated that the ADR centres will reduce the volume of court litigation and the amount of time spent handling disputes. At present, a first instance case takes about six years to be heard and a further three years to be appealed.

Some critics claim the centres are more efficient than England’s equivalent system, which arose out of the Access to Justice Act.

Tony Allen, director of the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, which has recently started providing ADR training in Nigeria, said: “The centres are built in the same buildings as the courts.
Therefore, a judge can simply refer a case to the room next door rather than to another country [as sometimes happens in Europe].”

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Readers' comments (4)

  • Maduforo Gift | 19-May-2009 6:44 pm

    To me its a welcomed devept. Am also in seeing a system that gives its citizens hope of justice. Am also doin a project on ' the role of adr in civil justice reform'

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  • UCHE NWOKOLO | 7-Nov-2009 10:44 am

    THIS IS A WELCOME DEVELOPMENT BECAUSE THE TRIAL SYSYTEM IN NIGERIA IS SLOW,THOUHG THERE IS IMPROVEMENT NOW,WE NEED THIS ADR TO REDUCE RECOURSE TO LITIGATION, TIME AND MONEY SPENT,
    THOUGH THIS WILL HAVE ITS LIMITATION BUT IT IS A WELCOME DEVELOPMENT

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  • Agbedejobi Kayode Peter | 25-May-2011 1:25 pm

    Considering the time saving benefits, money saving advantage, and the decongestion mechanism in the few courts we have, ADR can not be over emphasized to be of great importance to the Nigerian court/legal system. I strongly appreciate the innovation and the eventual acceptance of the ADR system in Nigeria. Kudos to the likes of Dr. Ade Ipaye who helped in the official introduction and engineering of ADR so far.

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  • Anonymous | 8-Mar-2013 6:14 pm

    This is an awesome step,litigation I¯_??°n¯_??° nigeria is nt only expensive but unnecessarily time consuming,this development will help a great deal. I 'A¯_??? writing my project on the application of the adr techniques t¯? matrimonial disputes...

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