IBA Young Lawyers Training: Insights, Perspectives and Core Practices of Arbitration & Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
The third session of the Young Lawyers Training programme explored the topic, ‘INSIGHTS, PERSPECTIVES & CORE PRACTICES OF ARBITRATION & ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION’.
Moderated by Funmi Roberts (of the law firm of Funmi Roberts & Co), the topic was discussed by a high-powered panel on which sat the following: Prof. Paul Idornigie, SAN, a lecturer at the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies; Obosa Akpata (of Patreli Partners); and Isaiah Bozimo (of the firm of Broderick Bozimo & Co).
Mrs. Roberts, the moderator, opened by pointing out the increasing recourse to ADR by disputing parties across the world, as opposed to traditional forms of dispute resolution such as litigation, and the major reasons for this sea-change.
In her opening contribution, Mrs. Obosa Akpata gave a concise definition of ADR and also explained the most commonly-deployed mechanisms of ADR & arbitration. ADR, she said, includes dispute resolution processes and techniques that act as a means for disagreeing parties to come to an agreement short of litigation. It is a collective term for the ways that parties can settle disputes, with the help of a third party. It was created, she said, by the so-called ‘men of commerce’ who were eager to avoid the adversarial and usually lengthy processes involved in litigation. Akpata listed 2 major forms of advocacy, namely, definitive forms (which usually featured the involvement of a third-party) and the facilitative form (which features mediation, mini-trial, negotiation, and conciliation between and among the parties). ADR, she added, underscores the importance of speed, efficacy and expertise, quoting describing the process which puts autonomy and procedural flexibility in the hands of the parties themselves (though it is usually the state that provides the infrastructure) as ‘the Magna Carta of arbitral procedure’.
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For most of his contribution, Mr. Isaiah Bozimo of the law firm of Broderick Bozimo & Co. dwelt on what he called the Four E’s of arbitration: Enforceability (at a global level); Even handedness; Expertise and Efficiency. On the matter of whether ADR was necessarily cheaper than litigation, Bozimo said it probably was not, but that in view of the lesser time, energy and emotion of resolution, ADR-related costs were infinitely worth it.
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In his contribution, Prof. Paul Idornigie of NIALSS spoke of the evolution of laws governing the administration of ADR, mediation, etc. in Nigeria. Though most of these laws were of colonial origin, they were currently being replaced in various jurisdictions across Nigeria by legislation that was responsive to the needs and exigencies of modern life in the country.
Bozimo returned to speak on the differences between the common law and the civil law systems, asserting that in the common law system, parties to a dispute are usually in control, while the courts or tribunals and judges are in control in the civil law system.
To the question as to whether the award of costs under ADR was final – or whether such can be challenged before a court of law, Prof. Idornigie averred that the role of courts in ADR was simply to enforce what had been agreed in ADR, not rule on their propriety or otherwise. Appeals or challenges can only be embarked on in proven cases of procedural breach, or misconduct, or lack of fair hearing, etc. Idornigie and Roberts also intimated attendees of some hitherto absent provisions of the new ADR law on which they – and others including Bozimo – had worked on, and which had now been approved by the Nigerian senate.
There were more questions and answers of various other issues of interest as the session finally came to an end.
See photos below:
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