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Magnus Eze, Enugu
Enugu state judiciary in collaboration with the state multi-door courthouse has slated 300 cases for mediation during the Enugu State Settlement Week (ESSW).
Chairman of the ESSW Committee, Justice A.O. Onovo, stated this in a briefing announcing activities for the week in Enugu , scheduled for October 28-November 5.
He explained that under the Enugu State Multi-Door Courthouse (ESMDC) Law 2018, the settlement week is a period set aside by the Chief Judge of the state for specific courts to clear the backlog of cases through referrals to the multi-door courthouse, for possible resolution through mediation, arbitration, neutral evaluation or any other Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) procedure.
According to him, the event would impact the justice system through a gradual but definitive reduction of the cases in the courts while providing satisfying, timely and cost effective justice to litigants.
“The programme is result-oriented to achieve its target of 300 mediated cases within the designated timeline of seven days. We will also like to see the dockets of the participating courts begin to view the ESMDC as a valuable ally in the struggle to overcome court congestion,” Onovo stated.
Speaking on the workings of the multi-door courthouse, its Director, Mrs Caroline Etuk, said the event would be the first settlement week in Enugu and she was upbeat its outcomes would provide the template for other states.
She disclosed that 60 mediators have been lined up to handle the 300 cases, noting that it would be a very tight schedule for them since the cases were time bound.
Etuk, however, said that the multi-door courthouse had since inception few months ago, received 300 cases in its docket, mainly land, family and tenancy matters among others, of which about 160 were already resolved while others were at various stages of mediation.
