KAMPALA, Uganda | The Judiciary held a two-day summit on the commercial court over the weekend to advance the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in Africa.

The event that was held at Speke Resort Munyonyo welcomed participants from over 31 countries, including chief justices, judges, and judicial officers dedicated to improving commercial justice systems in Africa.

During the summit, 14 resolutions were passed on how to use the Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms to solve court matters in their countries.

These include expanding stakeholder training, increasing public awareness campaigns, leveraging artificial intelligence in ADR processes, fostering academic partnerships to introduce ADR in legal education curricula, appellate mediation, promoting ex tempore rulings in interim matters, and limiting delays in appeals through court permissions and restrictions on stay of execution.

Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo affirmed their commitment to implementing the passed resolutions and that the secretariat will follow up with each jurisdiction and provide a comprehensive report to the Chief Justices’ Forum Joint Forum Meeting.

Dollo expressed gratitude to all participating Chief Justices, judicial officers, facilitators, and development partners, including the Standing International Forum of Commercial Courts (SIFoCC), Pepperdine University, the Africa Chief Justices ADR Forum, and the International Development Law Organisation, and called upon them to embrace the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution

He further added that under the Africa Chief Justices ADR Forum, members had recently commenced a 12-month master’s programme in international commercial arbitration. That shared academic endeavour, which he said would foster continuous learning and closer collaboration among judiciaries across the continent.

Sir Geoffrey Vos, the Head of Civil Justice for England and Wales, commended Uganda’s Chief Justice for his leadership in presenting a set of 12 resolutions that the summit adopted. He expressed confidence that the resolutions would significantly impact the promotion of ADR across African jurisdictions.

He further underscored the benefits of removing the procedural distinctions between interlocutory and final orders, adding that such a move could accelerate the delivery of justice.

According to the judiciary, the summit marked a significant step toward building a collaborative and innovative judicial ecosystem for commercial dispute resolution in Africa, with plans for similar gatherings to be hosted in different jurisdictions in the years ahead.