Siaya law courts rolled out the annexed mediation complete with its own registry in a ceremony held at the Law Courts premises in Siaya town.
The event which brought together various key players such as the Court Users Committee, Siaya business community, World Vision and other partners was graced by High Court Judge Justice George Odunga who is the Chair of the Mediation Accreditation Committee.
Court annexed mediation encourages parties in dispute to come to agreeable settlements with the help of the court without having to go through legal proceedings and expenses.
The Judiciary launched the mediation process in 2015 in a bid to hasten hearing and determination of cases and reduce backlog.
According to records from the Judiciary as of August last year a total of 5,218 out of 9,057 cases were resolved through mediation, helping parties avoid expensive legal proceedings.
Justice Odunga said that the 2010 constitution mandates the judiciary and the tribunal to promote alternative dispute settlement mechanisms.
“The court annexed mediation aims to assist in reaching settlements by alternative means and promote favourable co-existence between community members without always resorting to rulings and sentencing, a bad settlement is better than a good ruling,” said Dismas Wakla, Health CEC who represented the Siaya Governor Cornel Rasanga at the launch.
By Calvin Otieno
