About ADR ADR is the acronym for Alternative Dispute Resolution.

Alternative because many are of the view that the primary place of resolving disputes is the court system. Anything other than that is an alternative. However, some consider the letter A in ADR to refer to Appropriate since it allows parties and the facilitator to choose from the dispute resolution continuum the mechanism that is most suitable for the resolution of a given dispute. And the continuum ranges from litigation to negotiation, mediation, conciliation, arbitration and the likes. There are yet some others who consider the A in the ADR acronym to represent African. They are of the view that since time immemorial, this has been the system used by Africans in resolving their disputes (though sometimes informal). Be it as it may, ADR represents a paradigm shift in dispute resolution from a rights based approach to an interest based 2 approach. ADR has several mechanisms. The most widely used mechanisms are Arbitration, Mediation, Negotiation and Conciliation. Arbitration In Ghana the Arbitration practice was regulated by the Arbitration Act, 1961 (Act 38). This has since been replaced by the Alternative Dispute Resolution Act, 2010 (Act 798). In the Uniform Practice Manual on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Practice in Ghana, Prof Kofi Quashigah and other members of the team that drafted the manual define Arbitration as the process of voluntary submission of a dispute to one or more neutral person(s) for a final and binding determination. Admittedly, Arbitration is a quasijudicial process. The outcome of Arbitration (award) is similar to that of a court (judgement) but it does not necessarily use court processes although it has to observe the rules of natural justice. Because Arbitration is a quasijudicial process, some hold the view that it is not one of the ADR mechanisms. Experts however agree that because it is a voluntary process where parties choose their own panel of Arbitrators and also because the Arbitrator(s) in writing their award take into account the continuing and future relationship of the parties, Arbitration is suitably an ADR mechanism. Mediation Mediation is a process by which a third party/person, a Mediator, facilitates communication between the parties to assist the parties to reach a mutually acceptable settlement. George E. Irani summarises the task of the Mediator as follows: The mediator confronts two basic tasks when involved in settling a dispute. First, he or she has to encourage people to negotiate in such a way that there is an equitable outcome. Second, the mediator has to be completely neutral and place the expertise and power of decisionmaking in the hands of the conflicting individuals or groups themselves. (Source: Middle Eastern Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal, June 1999) Negotiation Negotiation is very much like Mediation. Except that in the case of Negotiation it is not necessarily occasioned by a dispute. Often times it can be handled by the parties involved unless it requires some form of specialty in negotiation or in the subject matter. Therefore everyone negotiates. The difference is the method/tools Mediators and Negotiators have access to in their mediator/negotiator toolbox.

Negotiation, also referred to as Interest BasedNegotiation (IBN), is thrust upon the fact that positions will have to be framed into interests. This appears to be the lifeline of every negotiation where parties tend to collaborate with one another and explore more possibilities on handling the issue(s). Compared to a situation where either of the parties state a 'position', usually one 'strong stand' which tend to get the parties involved in 3 confrontation with each defending his/her/their 'stand' thereby closing the door to exploring other options (other possibilities). According to Roger Fisher of Harvard's Programme on Negotiation every negotiation has seven distinguishable elements that are interconnected among which are interests, relationship and options. These insights are shared so as to contextualise this conversation. It can be noted therefore that ADR involves using nonlitigious dispute resolution processes whereby disputing parties actively participate in the resolution of their dispute under the watchful guidance of a trained third party. It represents a paradigm shift of how disputants think about the resolution of their conflict which encompasses the principles of fairness, speed, informality, flexibility of outcomes and the containment of cost. "Some of the essential principles of ADR are frank discussion, active listening, brainstorming, recognizing the legitimacy of the other and the empowerment of each party. Furthermore, once people have an interest in the outcome of a process and participate meaningfully in arriving at a solution, they become more committed to carry out the solution, which has been arrived at. Apart from the parties themselves, the public also benefit from a more workable policy, improved implementation and better relationships" Prof. Fiadjoe. The Ghanaian Experience The concept of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) has been with us in Ghana for a while. It is known for instance that between the years 1995 and 2000 several persons were trained to practice ADR though they could not get to practice as envisaged. It was not until January 2000 that some participants at a briefing on ADR organised here in Ghana by the Centre for African Peace and Conflict Resolution (CAPCR) of the State University of California, USA had the idea of forming a group to represent trained practitioners. They therefore schedule to hold their maiden meeting. The maiden meeting was held and several key decisions were made including the adoption of the name Ghana Association of Chartered Mediators and Arbitrators (GHACMA). Other decisions include the election of first members of the Executive Council and the decision to maintain the Accra offices of the Legal Aid Board as the contact office for GHACMA since it has proven to be quite accommodative upon hosting the first meeting. Even prior to that, was research conducted in 1999 by a threemember team comprising Prof. Kofi Quashigah, Mrs. Justice Georgina Theodora Wood and Messrs Nene Amegatcher which indicated the immense potential of the ADR mechanism as such the need to use it in Ghana to increase access to justice. Founding Members It was resolved that the list of interested persons present at the maiden meeting was to be reserved thereafter as Founding Members. GHACMAs registration process was therefore finalised in September 2000 and the records show some fourteen (14) founding members.

These are Her Ladyship Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, Chief Justice (then as an Appeals Court Judge), Korantima AdiDako, a Public Relations Practitioner, Nene Amegatcher, Maanaa Appeah (ne Djoleto) and Georgette Francois all legal practitioners. 4
Others are Justice Margret Insaidoo ( then a High Court Judge), Felix Korley, Martin C. Nwosu (past President and current General Secretary respectively), Steven Kuada, Gloria OforiBoadu, Michael Gyan Owusu and Kwasi Prempeh Eck all legal practitioners. The rest are Henrietta MensahBonsu and Prof. Kofi Quashigah both law lecturers. The latter being the current President of the association.

Bridging Competency Gaps Immediately after the formation it was realised that there was the need to give members a detailed training on ADR for two reasons; to give them both local and international exposure and to enhance their capacities as trainersoftrainers in order to satisfy the huge training and sensitisation needs of the wider public. Thus the CAPCR in collaboration with GHACMA organised an intensive trainingoftrainers programme at the campus of California State University (CSU), Sacramento, USA with funding from the State Department of the United States. Ten (10) persons participated from different institutions which included two members of the judiciary including the current Chief Justice. Others are five members of GHACMA, one person from the civil society, a member of CHRAJ and the then Secretary of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA). After the training, the participants agreed to give themselves four basic tasks namely: to conduct training for prospective professional mediators in the legal profession; to help the judiciary organise the firstever ADR Week; to setup an office for GHACMA; and finally to continually run training programmes for various sectors of the society. It has to be noted that though GHACMA was at the initial stages dominated by members of the bar and the bench, there was actually a nonlegal practitioner among the founding members. And currently its members are from diverse fields of endeavour. Office Accommodation Of all the four tasks that the Sacramento participants gave themselves, it is that of the acquisition of an office complex that has continually being fraught with peril. The Association invested considerable resource in furnishing an office it acquired for its use at the former offices of FIDA in Adabraka, Accra only for the property owners to discontinue the use of the facility by GHACMA. Adabraka was considered a preferred location because it was conveniently situated at the centre of town (Accra). It was around this time of difficulties with the property owners at Adabraka that GHACMA learnt of the existence of the Centre for Conflict Resolution (CENCOR) and their immense interest in ADR. The Association therefore paid a courtesy call on the initiator and Executive Director of the centre General Arnold Quainoo. During their discussions, the Association mentioned the issue of an office for its activities and was readily offered one of the offices within the complex for use. GHACMA therefore relocated to its present office at CENCOR in February 2007 at an opening ceremony attended by the Chief Justice. At the initial point, the focus of GHACMA was on training different segments of society to fill what was anticipated to be gaps between trained professionals and the demand for ADR services and also to help spread and introduce the concept to the larger society. With support from development partners especially the United States Agency for International

Development (USAID) among other partners, trainings were conducted for traditional rulers, 5 opinion leaders of some communities, Members of Parliament, the Judiciary, members of the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and the National Media Commission as well as leaders of the Buduburam Camp for Liberian Refugees. Indeed the Ashaiman ADR Centre, which is an enduring example of community Mediation in Ghana, came about as a result of the efforts of beneficiaries of these training programmes. Objectives of GHACMA The objectives of GHACMA are : To promote and support the use of ADR both within and outside Ghana and maintain a register of accredited/certified Mediators and Arbitrators; To train certify and ensure quality control of Mediators and Arbitrators in the practice of ADR; To act as referral point for individuals and organizations needing ADR services and also to cooperate with the state in regulating the ADR industry in the country; To liaise and cooperate with international ADR bodies in order to broaden the outlook and perspective of members with the possibility of becoming affiliate members of such bodies and; To gather, maintain, periodically update relevant information and make such available to members. Ten years after its formation the task that the Sacramento group set itself might have essentially served its purpose, the objectives that GHACMA set itself however hold true to date. Nonetheless GHACMA and her members still experience a dearth of opportunities to practice; it is yet to become a household name in commerce and industry and in our various communities and social places. Equally important is the need to design a curriculum for training professionals and set standards for practitioners. Interventions and the way forward In the past half decade or so a number of institutions have taken up the challenge of training professionals. These include Gamey and Gamey Academy of Mediation with its franchised courses for the PULSE Institute and the Mediation Training Institute (MTI) respectively; The West African Dispute Resolution Centre (WADREC); GHACMA itself and the Centre for Conflict Resolution (CENCOR) which run training programmes on their own behalf and in collaboration with Mediators Beyond Borders (MBB). The Judicial Service also conducts some workshops for its staff mostly at the Judicial Training Institute. Mention also need to be made of the good efforts of the Ghana Arbitration Centre. Almost all of these organizations are already institutional members of GHACMA, so are their staff individual members of GHACMA. It is a healthy phenomenon that all organizations in the dispute resolution industry are related to GHACMA, united for the good of all. With the above mentioned organisations the number of trained professionals is increasing which also translates into the size of the pool of Mediators available at GHACMA with diverse professional backgrounds. GHACMA now sets itself with the task of identifying with major stakeholders to position ADR practice to meet changing need. It has already begun work on setting standards of certification and code of conduct for mediators to regulate the industry. A five year Strategic Plan that is almost complete will be launched soon while the training content is also being reviewed. Equally worthy of mention is Mediation Advocacy Programme run by GHACMA for lawyers to understand the ADR mechanisms and recommend it to their clients where necessary.