The huge financial costs and cumbersome legal procedures associated with legal representation, access to justice in Ghana, have become the preserve of the rich, Daniel Owusu-Koranteng has said.

The President of Ghana National Association of ADR Practitioners, Owusu-Koranteng, insists the outrageous court fees have shut out the middle-class and the downtrodden to either represent themselves in court or avoid the legal system.

"A legal system where assess to justice is based on affordability of funding litigation for many years is a structural denial of access to justice for many citizens who fall within the poverty bracket.

"It is only through innovations like the promotion of ADR that can ensure assess to justice to citizens regardless of their social and economic standing," he stated.

Daniel Owusu-Koranteng made the observation in a speech delivered at the graduation ceremony of the Institute of Paralegal Training and Leadership Studies on March 8, 2025.

The theme of the graduation was “ADR: A Path to a More Just and Peaceful World”.

He said the growing interest of people with diverse professional backgrounds, such as priests, public servants, among others in the programme, is an indication of the important role of ADR in resolving many of the bottlenecks in the judicial system.

According to him, despite the important role the ADR plays in addressing some of the problems associated with the judicial system in the country, there is no representative from an ADR professional body on the governing board of the ADR Center, as provided in Section 117 of the ADR Act, 798, 2010.

"I want to use this graduation ceremony to call on government to review the ADR ACT 798, 2010 to include GNAAP on the Governing Board of the ADR Center," he said.

While urging the 62 graduands to uphold professional ethics of honesty, dignity and impartiality, Daniel Owusu-Koranteng, called on the government to increase the remuneration of mediators in the country.

VPO/AE

Meanwhile, watch this Ghana Month special edition of People and Places as we hear the story of how the head of Kwame Nkrumah's bronze statue was returned after 43 years, below: