Challenges Facing Mediation as a Means of Court-Connected Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Ashanti Region of Ghana

In 2012-2016, the number of cases referred to CCADR for mediation was 14,900. And out of these cases, 5,789 were successfully resolved to represent 38%. The total number of mediated cases pending were 9,111, representing 62%. Though there seems to be an improvement in terms of a decrease in pending cases, the number of pending cases leaves much to be desired. Premising on the above statistics, it has been noted that 9,111 ADR cases were pending in CCADR. Meanwhile, mediation under the CCADR program is known to be faster, affordable, and to reduce the overloaded courts' dockets. This has boosted the interest, trust, and confidence people had in mediation, and this has resulted in the increasing number of cases referred to ADR for mediation. However, the system, which was instituted to reduce overloaded courts' dockets, is bedeviled with challenges. The study seeks to explore the challenges confronting mediation as a means of ADR approach.