ATTORNEY-AT-LAW Michael Williams has called on the Government to set up more dispute resolution centres across the island to help reduce the backlog of cases in the justice system.

“Minister, you need more dispute resolution centres in this country. They work even in civil matters where people are fighting over money; sometimes it is not the money that are the underline causes why they are in court,” Williams said. “Minister, this will solve some of the backlog in the justice system.”

The attorney was addressing last Thursday’s 10th annual University of the West Indies/UNESCO Philosophy Day held at the university’s Mona campus. He was one of five speakers who made presentations under the theme ‘Building Peace: Violence Prevention and Eradication’.

Williams, while commending the Government for strengthening the country’s dispute resolution systems, said that more work needs to be done in that area.

“Conflict resolution techniques should be taught from kindergarten. We need to strengthen the dispute resolution mechanism, especially as an alternative mechanism,” he said.

To make his case about the effectiveness of the dispute resolution centres, Williams shared a scenario.

“As an attorney, I send many of my clients to dispute resolution… and I will tell you this story so that you understand how effective this can be. A colleague of mine told me the other day how many trials he has won since he was called to the bar. When he was through, I said to him, ‘I don’t know what your trial numbers are, but I can tell you that since the beginning of this year, I have sent 80 clients to the Dispute Resolution Foundation and they have successfully negotiated their dispute and walked away as friends’,” Williams shared.

“One of my clients happened to be living in Nannyville Gardens in Kingston and she had not spoken to her neighbour, with whom she had a conflict for 30 years. On one particular day, they got into a fight, both were injured and both were brought before the court — the criminal court where they could get a criminal record,” Williams continued, pointing out that the case was successfully mediated.

Williams noted that, even though the parties oftentimes are not willing to yield to his suggestions, they would eventually comply.

“It took a little bit of cajoling to get them to go, but they went. I spoke to her a week ago and she told me that she now speaks with her neighbour,” he said.

— Racquel Porter