A PROJECT is in the works to introducean Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) pilot programme.

Attorney-General Fruendel Stuart said the one-year programme would be undertaken by the Justice Improvement Programme Secretariat and would be funded by the Government as well as the Inter-American Development Bank.

The programme would be joined to the court system where a judge would decide whether ADR was required or if the case should go to litigation.

Stuart was the featured speaker at the closing ceremony of the Caribbean Centre for Conflict Management mediation workshop, held at the Amaryllis Beach Resort, Hastings, Christ Church.

"I am convinced that ADR mechanisms must now feature as an accepted and efficacious means through which settlement can be reached in Barbados.

"I wish to assure you that Government will strive to put mechanisms in place which allow ordinary citizens, particularly those who feel intimidated by the formal legal system, access to avenues through which they can settle problems amicably before it is referred to court," he said.

However, Stuart said, full implementation depended on Government's financial constraints.

"I have the desire but what we do has to do with what Government can afford. However, the fact that Government has established a Ministry
of Family should say something . . . and if a family [ADR] court can assist, we will not resist a move in that direction," he said.

Mediation could be used to resolve family issues that could lead to the penalisation of young people, he added, mentioning a Dispute Resolution and Conflict Resolution programme currently being done in five secondary schools.

Addressing the audience, he said it was now up to them to bring about change.

"It appears that Barbadians are still hesitant to utilise ADR as an alternative to the seemingly more attractive trek to Coleridge Street, where they waste
their substance on litigious living.

"The onus is on you to act as catalysts for change of this mindset and to highlight to the public the many advantages of ADR," he said.

The course participants all received certificates. Facilitator Dr Kenneth Niles said the only thing preventing them from practicing as mediators now was Barbados' lack of mediation legislation. (CA)