According to him, although it is important for aggrieved parties to seek redress in court, some of the cases should could be settled out of court to save time and money.

He also argued that it was better for parties to be encouraged to go to court rather than resort to violence to make their cases.

In an interview with Ghana Decides on Thursday [October 3], he said, “In general, it is better for people who are aggrieved in the electoral process to find justice in court than to try to “extract” justice through violence and other disruptive activities.”

“It is better to have a robust rule of law to which people can go to when they are aggrieved in the electoral process but I think it is important for an Electoral Commission to do its work so transparently so that they are less and less grounds for people going to court to challenge the actions of the Electoral Commission”

I know that in countries like Nigeria, there are people who will go to court anyway, whatever you do, to exercise their rights so it is good if people trust in the court process and go there rather than trying to solve issues violently I think that is good and it should be encouraged but it can also be costly so alternative dispute resolution processes needs to be promoted.

He said Nigeria had introduced an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism ahead of its 2015 elections and that helped to amicably address a lot of the disputes within and between political parties.

He therefore called on Ghana to adopt such ADR mechanism to address the various election-related litigation.

‘Ghana EC saddled with court cases’

With barely a month to Ghana’s general elections, the Electoral Commission has been saddled with a number court cases brought against it by various political parties.

Among the reliefs being sought by the political parties are those to reinstate their disqualified aspirants in the presidential race, challenging the filing fees set by the EC for all aspirants.

‘Special courts for elections cases’

In order to ensure expeditious hearing and judgment on the numerous cases concerning the upcoming elections, the Chief Justice, Georgina Theodora Woode established some seventeen (17) courts to ahead of the polls.

This followed concerns that the December 7, 2016 electoral calendar could be negatively affected following the rising number of disputes between presidential aspirants and the Electoral Commission (EC).

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Alternative Dispute Resolution better for election cases – Prof Jega appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The EC disqualified twelve presidential nominees from the race for variety of reason including failing to appropriately fill their forms.

The action provoked some political parties who have gone to court to fight their case.

[contextly_sidebar id=”Fdt15wlPXmW7x5fiWME9VIY00KpEM1AF”]In an interview with Citi News, President of the Business Law Society of Ghana, Osei Bonsu Dickson said resorting to ADR will avert the situation.

“We can prevent electoral and constitutional crisis with dialogue; which is why we recommend multilateral dialogue and ADR to be embraced and utilized alongside the court adjudicatory arrangements. The stakeholders in our elections – the EC, the political parties, the electorate, and donor organisations have diverse interest in the process. These multiple interests, can however, be accommodated through effective dialogue. With approximately 49 days to go to the polls, we respectfully urge the EC, the political parties and Ghanaians to explore dialogue and ADR.”

He also criticized the posturing of the EC saying it does not encourage Alternative Dispute Resolution.

“The Ghanaian electorate also deserves more open information about every aspect of the elections, especially the various civil mechanisms of resolving dispute. When applying its discretionary, power, however, we urge that the EC – as a public body which belongs to all Ghanaians to be guided by Articles 296, and 23 of the 1992 Constituency and ensure fairness and greater openness. The EC must be able to review its own decisions, where the situation so requires. To the political parties, we say commit fully to cooperation and dialogue with the EC,” he added.

PPP, NDP, GCPP sues EC

Some of the flagbearer’s disqualified include the Papa Kwesi Nduom of the Progressive People’s Party (PPP), National Democratic Party (NDP), Great Consolidated Popular Party among others have sued the commission praying the court to reinstate them.

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By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Use ADR to resolve disqualification impasse – Group to EC, parties appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.