Promoting access to justice through court-connected mediation in Namibia: Prospects, challenges and opportunities
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Date
2025
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Publisher
University of Namibia
Abstract
Applying a qualitative approach, this study aimed to evaluate the prospects,
challenges and opportunities of court-connected mediation in promoting access to
justice in Namibia. It found that there are many obstacles to access to justice in
Namibia which include a lack of knowledge on the rights granted to Namibians,
prolonged adjudication, locus standi, costly legal proceedings and lastly, case
backlog. An evaluation was conducted by studying the right of access to justice in
Namibia and how the predominantly adversarial Namibian civil justice system
currently operates to specifically highlight the hindrances to access to justice. It
further sets out the growth and development of alternative dispute resolution (ADR),
which incorporates the different forms and purposes of ADR, mediation as a general
form of ADR. It explained and elaborated on court-connected mediation in Namibia.
Furthermore, a comparative study was conducted on court-connected mediation in
Tanzania and India to draw differences and similarities between the jurisdictions.
Moreover, it concluded with recommendations on how court-connected mediation in
Namibia can be improved. From an access to justice perspective, this study
emphasised the need for Namibia to adapt its civil justice system in order to meet the
ever-changing needs of the community it serves. As a result of this evaluation, the
study concluded that ADR, and more specifically that court-connected mediation, can
have a significant impact on the promotion of access to justice by aiding in the
solution to the hindrances of such access to justice since the process is less costly, less
time consuming and allows the disputing parties to take part in the process to settle
their dispute. However, the study also indicated the limitations and challenges of an
ADR system premised on court-connected mediation given the technical and
adversarial nature of the Namibian legal system and the growing economic inequality
between the rich and poor
Description
A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Laws (LLM)
Keywords
Access to justice, Alternative dispute resolution (ADR), Civil justice system, High court, Mediation, Namibia, Social justice, Namibia, University of Namibia