ADR, not litigations, give desired peace, says lawyer

Legal actions at the various levels of the court cannot bring about desired solution and peace by the initiators but increase hatred.

This was the submission of Justice Ossai Ahiakwo who practices law at King’s Chambers in Calabar when he spoke on Importance of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) as the best form of settlement.

He said it was not surprising that parties to disputes, not satisfied at the lower court would usually move up to the appellate court and then to the Supreme Court, and would still not be satisfied.

“It is evident that initiating litigations in the court of law over disputes arising from disagreements or committal of offences cannot restore the desired global peace.

“The adversarial approach put in place by Mosaic laws and adopted in handling matters, be it civil or criminal, exposes the inadequacies which the age-long court process is faced with.

“This has been the practice without attaining a perfect system whereby citizens are expected to peacefully coexist,” he said.

Ahiakwo said the infiltration of human laws into natural affairs of man is solely responsible for the increasing violation of divine laws.

According to Ahiakwo, the surging rate of cases in many courts today remains the bane of man to achieve peace of mind.