By Roland Routh
WINDHOEK – Judge President Petrus Damaseb on Wednesday last week applauded the newly accredited court appointed mediators for helping the Namibian justice system take a huge step in the right direction.
“You are the first crop of court appointed mediators and must strive to act in an exemplary way and not embarrass the court,” the judge president told the mediators.
He said the new office they assumed imposes on them the obligation to act impartially, fairly and honourably towards the parties involved.
“We must devote all our creative energies towards making the ADR (alternative dispute resolution) experiment of the High Court succeed to become the flagship of our judicial system,” he said.
He added that he looked forward to working with the accredited mediators, the legal profession and the registrar and her staff to realise the set objectives.
According to Damaseb there will be the customary birth pangs which come with any new system, but they should not prove to be obstacles.
He said the 47 people who underwent ADR training conducted by Judge Gordon Low from the US under the auspices of the High Court, including judges, legal practitioners, university lecturers, psychologists and architects, all now form the backbone of the court’s mediation service.
He expressed immense gratitude to Low and his wife for volunteering to assist in the training and assured Low that he heard nothing but praise for the manner in which the training was conducted.
“You have proven that justice and access to courts are universal values shared by people across the world,” he told Low, adding that Namibia’s court system has learned profoundly from him and will no doubt continue to do so.
He also expressed his sincere gratitude to the American Embassy in Windhoek for partly sponsoring Low’s participation.
ADR is a process that was introduced by the High Court recently and at a workshop for Namibia’s judges it was decided to implement it as a matter of urgency.
Modern caseflow management theory teaches that that every court that has embraced judicial case management must have a coherent and flexible caseflow management plan based upon judicial control of cases filed at the court, leveraging technology, regular administrative reports on the court’s case load and the disposal rate.
Another important element of a properly functioning court is the existence of diversionary strategies that will ease the burden on the adjudication function of the court.
ADR is such a strategy and was born from the indisputable reality that the court system will become dysfunctional and will ultimately collapse if the undoubted pressure on courts is not eased.
Damaseb said that mediation is particularly suitable where the parties know each other and want to maintain or save their relationship or where there is a need to reach a quick resolution to the dispute to enable the parties to continue with a commercial relationship.
He said that in many cases of defamation, the aggrieved party could merely be looking for an apology, which can become a drawn-out legal battle, but where a mediator can resolve the matter amicably.