The Enugu State Multi-Door Courthouse (ESMDC) has urged Enugu residents to embrace its services as the alternative way to resolve their individual, families and group disputes.
Mrs Stella Nkwachukwu -Mbah, the Head of Business Development and Advocacy Unit, ESMDC made the call at the ongoing 34th Enugu International Trade Fair holding in Enugu on Wednesday.
She said that Multi-Door Courthouse was court connected through the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), and urged the residents to make good use of it.
Nkwachukwu -Mbah added that the court provided other mechanisms that the residents could explore such as arbitration, mediation and initial evaluation, reconciliation and hybrid processes.
She regretted that in spite of the court’s inception in the state since 2018, many residents were not aware that the Multi- Door Courthouse existed in the state.
The business development head explained that they were at the 34th Enugu International Trade Fair to create awareness and to make people in the state see reason to embrace their services.
“So visit us at T17 (Inside the Tent) at Trade Fair Complex Golf Estate G. R. A. Enugu.
“We provide speedy, cost effective and user-friendly access to justice. The disputes we handle are civil, tenancy, contract, commercial, debt recovery, matrimonial, land dispute, family dispute and employment, among others.
“The Settlement Agreement is binding and enforceable as it becomes a court judgement,” she said.
She added that they also provided free mediation services for disputes that were initiated within the period of the Trade Fair, urging residents to key into the opportunity by bringing their disputes/cases for settlement.
She outlined poor funding, difficulty in getting the respondents to process the applicants’ case as their major challenges, stressing that most applicants did not know the exact address of the respondents.
Nkwachukwu -Mbah assured the people that 90 per cent of the cases coming to the court were professionally handled as they had trained mediators and lawyers.
“This is a court that helps in the decongestion of courts and reduce prolonged cases in courts,” she added. (NAN)
