Govt to Increase use of Alternative Dispute Resolution

The Government is moving to increase the use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methods in the new financial year as a means of peacefully settling disputes.

Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Hon. Delroy Chuck, made the disclosure during the meeting of the Standing Finance Committee at Gordon House on March 5.

ADR methods, which include restorative justice, conciliation and arbitration, are used as a means of reducing court backlogs and curbing violence.

“We’re going to be pushing alternative dispute resolution because we think it is very important to get our people to really settle their arguments amicably,” Minister Chuck said.

“We’re going into the schools, we’re going into the communities, to get people to really learn to live with one another,” he added.

The Ministry continues to expand the network of parish justice centres to provide access to ADR services.

Minister Chuck informed that a location has been settled on for the justice centre in Clarendon.

“We are putting up the Hanover Justice Centre, and the Clarendon Justice Centre, which has been pending for the last two years because of location. I think we have now found an appropriate location, and it will be dealt with in the supplementary budget,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Minister is encouraging lawyers from the Legal Aid Council (LAC) with outstanding claims to send them in to the Ministry.

“So, we have been able to pay all the claims for persons who engage in duty counsel or who take on legal aid cases. So, I can tell you, if one attorney says that we owe them, it’s because they have not sent in their certificate, because we literally beg them,” he said.

“We have paid out over $400 million and we still have money. If anyone has a claim, they can send it in,” he added.