Paralegals in the Volta region have undergone a day’s training on how to use Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms in handling cases involving children.
The training, which was organised by the Legal Resource Centre (LRC) with support from the European Union (EU) was to enhance the capacity of participants on child justice system in promoting and protecting the rights of children.
Mr Robert Nomo Junior, Project Officer at the LRC said paralegals could be able to provide effective assistance to children to have proper legal aid or have their cases resolved using ADR mechanisms.
He said mechanisms such as arbitration, mediation and negotiation could be helpful in addressing issues affecting children and needed to be taken seriously.
Mr Nomo said through the country had many child related laws, gaps in the laws were exposing children to abuses and the LRC was working on identifying gaps in the legal system and had consulted various stakeholders across the country for a reformed child law.
“The three-year project, which started in 2018 and dubbed; “Justice for Children: Bridging the gap between legislation and practice” is also to influence the national institutions to be more transparent, accountable, human rights oriented and consistent with the broad outlook of Ghana’s justice for children policy” Mr Nomo stated.
Mr Clarke Noyoru, a resource person at the workshop said it was imperative for paralegals to understand the cultural dynamics of societies so that best approaches could be used in handling cases to provide good and effective services to children.
He also asked traditional leaders to show interest in protecting and promoting the rights of children in their communities and to consider the best interest of the child as the last resolve.
The participants were drawn from seven districts of Volta and Oti regions and taken through topics such as; Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms, the criminal and other Offensive Acts, the Matrimonial Act, the Intestate Succession Act, the Human Trafficking Act, the Court Act, Persons With Disability Act, Domestic Violence Act.
Source: http://www.ghananewsagency.org/social/paralegals-schooled-on-using-adr-to-help-children-148693
