US reaches out to local judiciary

Dec 10, 2011 News

…donates material on conflict resolution

Access to justice is a human rights issue and mediation, as a form of Alternative Dispute Resolution,

United States of America Ambassador to Guyana, Brent Hardt presents the books to the Chancellor of the Judiciary, Carl Singh

is a means to resolve certain types of civil cases more effectively. Mediation, therefore, can help reduce the backlog of cases in the courts, and thereby ensure more timely access to justice in the future.
This is according to the United States of America Ambassador to Guyana, Brent Hardt. He made those remarks yesterday during the handing over of books on Alternative Dispute Resolution and Mediation to the Guyana’s Court of Appeal’s Library. The function was held at the Court of Appeal, Kingston.
Hardt stated, “It is our hope that mediators and other judiciary personnel will make good use of them to increase their awareness and knowledge of mediation. In so doing, we hope that they will come to see mediation as a cost-effective and fair means to deliver justice to disputing parties.”
Hardt emphasised that over the past 15 years, the US Government has been pleased to work in partnership with the Guyana’s judiciary to improve the administration of justice. The presentation of the books is another demonstration of America’s long-standing support to this sector and more specifically, the shared goal of promoting the use of mediation in Guyana.
He stated that mediation was introduced in Guyana under the 1999- 2004 Democracy and Governance programme of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). At that time, the Carter Centre was responsible for the design and implementation of the Rule of Law component of the programme that sought to improve the administration of justice and access to justice.
“In 2002, the Carter Centre worked closely with the then Chief Justice, and now Chancellor, to introduce mediation in Guyana. I would like to acknowledge the key role and contribution of Chancellor Carl Singh in supporting and promoting mediation,” Hardt said.
He added that since 2002 USAID has trained 70 mediators in Region Four. These individuals are on the court roster and are available to conduct court connected mediation. Many are also providing private mediation services.
As part of the US efforts to expand mediation’s usage, 55 persons from Region Six received basic training in mediation. It is anticipated that when the training manuals and a Code of Conduct are approved, they will be used to continue work.
The USAID is working closely with the Mediation Institute of Guyana, a Non-Governmental Organization whose mission is to promote the use of mediation in Guyana. It is hoped that the organization will be able to rise to the challenge of serving as a representative body for mediators in Guyana.