Justice Cyprian Aja, Chairman of the Enugu State Multi-Door Court House (ESMDC), has urged the people to embrace alternative legal resolution through the Multi–Door Court House.

Justice Aja, made the call in an address during a pre-inauguration news conference in Enugu on Tuesday.

He noted that the idea behind the setting up of the Multi-Door Court House was to build confidence and trust while ensuring that one’s “dispute could be amicably resolved within the possible shortest time.’’

According to him, we are looking at a situation in which disputes could be resolved fast while retaining the cordial relationship between the parties involved through Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism.

“The options available at the ESMDC include mediation, reconciliation, arbitration, early neutral evaluation and hybrid processes.

“ADR empowers parties and their lawyers to reach a creative agreement through a confidential and consensual process which also preserve the relationship of the disputing parties.

“The Terms of Settlement, which is the outcome of the process, is also adopted as a judgment of the Court,’’ he said.

Aja, who is also the Chairman of Rules Committee of ESMDC, said that timely resolution of disputes while ensuring justice was the key factor of the special court, emphasizing that a case that “commences within this court centre is expected to be resolved within six months’’.

“Any judgment given in these special courts, it will stand as a judgment by the Enugu State High Court,’’ he said.

He noted that the cases to be handled in the multi-door court centre “must be a claim not less than N20 million,’’ adding that where the parties do not like to settle in the special court, they could go back to the regular courts to resolve their disputes.

Contributing, Chairman of Nigeria Bar Association, Enugu State Branch, Mr Anene Ojinta, assured that the association would ensure the smooth take-off of the project and its continuity.

“We are delighted to be party to this project especially now that the courts are congested with cases; when a judge says he has 800 cases on his table, it is not a joke.

“The centre would be useful to even traditional rulers; they would be asked to come to the centre to help in resolving disputes in their various communities,’’ Ojinta said.

On the difference between Multi-Door Court House and the Fast Track Court, the Director of ESMDC, Justice Caroline Etuk,  said already, the court has received 40 cases, which have to do with landed matters and family inheritance, even before its official inauguration on Monday, Dec. 17.

“If we can tackle them, there will be a lot of peace in the families in the south East; we require the collaboration of the stakeholders in the area,’’ she said. (NAN)

– Dec. 11, 2018 @ 13:09 GMT |