A CRITICAL ANALYSIS ON THE USE OF ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION (ADR) IN BACKLOG MANAGEMENT IN UGANDA.

Contents

ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................................... 9

CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................... 10

1.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 10

1.1 Background to the study .............................................................................................................. 12

1.1.1 Development of ADR ................................................................................................................. 12

1.1.2 Development of ADR in Uganda ................................................................................................ 15

1.2 Statement of the problem ............................................................................................................ 16

1.3.1 General objective ...................................................................................................................... 17

1.3.2 The Specific Objectives of the study are: ................................................................................... 17

1.4 Research questions ...................................................................................................................... 17

1.5 Hypothesis ................................................................................................................................... 17

1.6 Significance of the study .............................................................................................................. 18

1.7 Methodology ............................................................................................................................... 19

1.8. Limitations .................................................................................................................................. 19

1.9 literature review .......................................................................................................................... 19

Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................ 36

CHAPTER TWO .............................................................................................................................. 37

LEGAL FRAMEWORK OF ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION USED IN THE JUSTICE SYSTEM OF UGANDA

..................................................................................................................................................... 37

2.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 37

2.1 Municipal legal framework ........................................................................................................... 37

2.1.1 The Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, 1995 ................................................................. 37

2.1.2 The Judicature Act, Cap. 13 ....................................................................................................... 39

2.1.3 The Legal and Administrative Framework for Commissions of Inquiry ...................................... .40

3.1.4 The Arbitration and Conciliation Act Chapter 4 .......................................................................... 43

2.1.5 The Civil Procedure Act, Chapter 71 and the Civil Procedure Rules S.l71-1 ................................ 46

2.2 Regional Legal Framework ........................................................................................................... 48

2.2.1 East African Court of Justice Arbitration Rules, 2012 ................................................................. 48

2.3 International legal framework ...................................................................................................... 49

2.3.1 The UN Charter ......................................................................................................................... 49

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2.3.2 The UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration (UNCITRAL Model Law)

(hereinafter referred to as the Model Law) ........................................................................................ 51

2.3.5 UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Conciliation ............................................... 54

2.4 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................... 56

CHAPTER THREE ........................................................................................................................... 57

THE USE OF ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE IN UGANDA SPECIFICALLY COMPARING MEDIATION AND

ARBITRATION AS ADR MECHANISMS ............................................................................................ 57

3.0 lntroduction ................................................................................................................................. 57

3.1.1 Mediation ................................................................................................................................. 57

3.1.2 Advantages of Mediation .......................................................................................................... 59

3.1.2.1 Participation in Mediation is Voluntary and Nonbinding ......................................................... 59

3.1.2.2Mediation is lnformal .............................................................................................................. 60

3.1.2.3 Flexibility and Adaptability ..................................................................................................... 60

3.1.2.4Cost-Effectiveness ................................................................................................................... 62

3.2.2 Arbitration ................................................................................................................................ 64

3.2.2.1 Advantages of Arbitration ...................................................................................................... 64

3.2.3 COMPARISON OF MEDIATION AND ARBITRATION ..................................................................... 65

3.2.3.1 Decision control and process control by disputants ................................................................. 65

3.2.3.2 Cost and Time Savings ............................................................................................................ 66

3.2.3.3 Enforceability ......................................................................................................................... 67

3.2.3.4 Incorporation into Contractual Agreement ............................................................................. 67

3.2.3.5 Relationship conservation between disputants ...................................................................... 68

3.2.3.6 Conformity with traditional culture ........................................................................................ 68

3.3 chapter conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 69

CHAPTER FOUR ............................................................................................................................. 70

THE INTERNATIONAL BEST PRACTICE OF ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION (ADR) .................... 70

4.0 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 70

4.1.1 United kingdom ........................................................................................................................ 70

ADR in Labour disputes in United Kingdom ........................................................................................ 70

The role of the Employment Tribunal in alternative dispute resolution .............................................. 72

4.2 Kenya ........................................................................................................................................... 73

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Mechanisms of ADR that are Practiced in Kenya and not practiced in Uganda ................................... 73

Med-Arb ............................................................................................................................................ 73

Arb-med....................................................... 74

Adjudication ........................................................ 74

4.3 South Africa ....................................................... 75

Legislative Support for Mediation in Labour disputes in south Africa ................................................. 75

ADR in Corporate/Commercial Law in South Africa ............................................................................ 79

The Code on Corporate Governance .................................................................................................. 79

The King Ill Report ................................................................ 80

CHAPTER FIVE ................................................................. 87

REFORMS AND RECOMMENDATIONS THAT CAN BE ADOPTED IN THE UGANDAN LEGAL SYSTEM TO

IMPROVE THE USE OF ADR IN THE LEGAL SYSTEM .................. 87

5.0 Introduction ....................... 87

5.1 The involvement of Non-Governmental Organization in ADR .................... 87

5.2 Adopt the system of appointing "Experts" ............................. 88

5.3 The adaptation of Mediation and ADR in corporation disputes ..................................................... 88

5.4 Adoption of the community ADR model is important ... 89

5.5 Training and Research ......................................... 90

5.6 Introduction of Code of Ethics for Mediators .............. 90

5.7 Introduction of Computer Courses for Judicial Officers .......... 90

5.8 Improvement of Conditions of Service for Judicial Officers ........................................................... 90

5.8 Conclusion ..................................................................... 91

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ABSTRACT This study was carried out using the A doctrinal methodology ()[research, the study is based on secondmy information such as writings ()[high qualified state publicists as clearly envisaged in textbooks, novels, law journals, articles, websites and different literature including class notice. T7w researcher also relied on judicial decisions made by different judges of different states, Acts of parliament relating to ADR and international Conventions where Uganda is party. Over the past several decades, there has been growing interest amongst advocates world-wide, in the use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) techniques to resolve their clients' disputes more economically and efficiently. In the face of bottlenecks and backlogs in the court systems, as well as spiraling costs and fees, courts and members (){the legalfi'aternity have been part of the movement seeldng means other than litigation for resolving disputes. The development ()[more flexible means of resolving disputes in the form of ADR techniques has therefore gained increasing popularity, and the Ugcmdan legal system is no exception. Certainly, the advantages to be gained by the implementation of ADR in the Ugandan legal system provide enormous potential and as such, ADR has not gone unnoticed in Uganda. In the past years, tremendous reforms have been made in the Ugandan legal system, and a study on ADR is therefore most timely in this context. This paper seeks to introduce to the reader, the concept of ADR and its implications in the Ugandan context especially in dealing with the rampant problem of case backlog in the judicimy in Uganda. The study seeks to critically analyze the use ()[ ADR in the resolution ()[disputes in Uganda and whether the notion of ADR has been ()[great importance to Ugandans especially by speeding and quickening the resolution ()[disputes as compared to the adversarial system. It also seeks to establish how the stake holders in Uganda have appreciated the notion of ADR especially the parliament and the Judicimy to the extent of making laws to favor ADR and making Mediation compuls01y in all civil litigations. T11e study covers the legal fi'ame work of ADR in Uganda and the different mechanisms of ADR used to resolve disputes in Uganda and those used by other countries as best practice that Uganda should adopt in order to reduce case backlog in the judicimy.