300 cases set for clearance

Over 300 backlog of cases are expected to be cleared by specific courts during this years Lagos State Settlement Week, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.The figure was contained in a statement by the Chief Registrar of the state, Mr. Ganiyu Safari, and made available to NAN on Wednesday.The state 2011 Settlement Week has been fixed for December 5 to 9.The week is set aside by the Chief Judge for specific courts to clear the backlog of cases through mediation, arbitration and neutral evaluation among others.The statement listed qualified cases for the settlement week to include banking and insurance-related disputes, landlord and tenant matters, property disputes and debt recovery.Other cases are libel and slander, employment and trade disputes, construction disputes, medical negligence, contracts enforcement, family disputes as well as succession disputes.The statement said dispute resolution specialists of neutral evaluators, lawyers and retired judges had been invited as facilitators to participate in the programme.The facilitators will be mediating case types for which they have a legal expertise.To ensure quality outcome and a successful settlement week, a minimum standard of training, experience, education and ethical conduct for mediators will be mandatory, the statement added.It explained that all cases presented at the settlement week would be free of charge. It, however, advised lawyers to discuss their fees with their clients before presentation.According to the statement, if a settlement is reached, the terms of settlement will be signed by the parties, their counsel and mediator, and entered as the consent of judgement of the High Court of Lagos State.If no settlement is reached, they will try their cases in normal courts, it said.
Click here to read full news..