Judiciary to roll out Court Annexes Mediation in 50 court stations by 2024

Chief Justice Martha Koome has revealed a plan by the Judiciary to roll out more Court Annexes Mediation (CAM) Programmes in its bid to integrate mediation into the justice sector.

She noted that so far, there are 43 Mediation Registries across the country, since the launch of the pilot phase of the CAM programme in 2016.

The pilot programme was launched at the Family and Commercial Divisions of the Milimani High Court, with the phase ending in July 2017.

Koome noted that the 43 Registries have an average settlement rate of 52 per cent.

"These CAM Registries support 101 court stations and sub-registries across the country. We plan to roll out CAM to an additional 50 court stations by the end of the year 2024," she said.

The President of the Supreme Court spoke on Wednesday while delivering her keynote speech during the launch of the first Inter-Continental Mediation Summit at Safari Club, Nairobi.

The summit's theme is Mediate First: Exploring New Horizons Today and Beyond.

Noting that mediation is not a competition but an acceleration of justice, Koome said since the introduction of CAM, a total of 15,211 matters have been referred to the programme.

She added that the value of the matters was approximated at Sh55 billion, saying through mediation, the judiciary has been relieved of some financial burden.

"A total of 5,048 matters have been concluded successfully. The value of the matters that have been concluded successfully and funds previously locked up in litigation released back to the economy stands at approximately Sh33 billion," the CJ said.

She further said there has been an improvement in the turnaround time for matters referred to mediation, from 87 days to 74 days, showing that the method has helped save time and fast-tracked access to justice.

The CJ added that in terms of growth of agreement rate, there has been an improvement of 11.05 per cent in the last four financial years.

In the 2016/17 Financial Year, the rate was at 40.95 per cent compared to now where it is at 52 per cent.

"It is evident therefore that Court Annexed Mediation has contributed immensely towards reduction of case backlog and an improved business environment in the country," she said.

Further, in the strides made by the Judiciary in institutionalising mediation as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism and promoting a culture of mediation in the country, there has been an increase in the number of accredited mediators.

In 2016, there were 74 accredited mediators, a number which is now at 1,292 with 661 having active status.

CJ Koome expressed confidence that the Judiciary will continue to implement the strategic objectives and interventions identified in the Court Annexed Mediation Action Plan (2021-2024).

"We will see more growth and positive impact of mediation in terms of facilitating expeditious resolution of disputes, restoring relationships between disputing parties and improving our business environment," she said.

Among those present at the Summit was Ambassador Raychelle Omamo, who is the chairperson of the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators.