Legal Aid center on Alternative Justice System to be launched in Kisumu

 

Civil Societies Organizations {CSO} Network Team Leader Betty Okero{R} address the press today during the stakeholders meeting on Alternative Justice System-Story and Photo By Dickson Odhiambo

June 8, 2022

Legal Aid center on Alternative Justice System to be launched in Kisumu

 A LEGAL Aid Center that will help in addressing the issue of Alternative Dispute Resolutions within the communities is set to be launched in Kisumu.

The Civil Societies Organization {CSO}Network is set to launch Legal Aid Center tomorrow at the Kisumu High Court.

Addressing the press in Kisumu ahead of the exercise, Civil Societies Organizations Network Team Leader Betty Okero said the center will also address the issue of alternative justice system.

She says it will also help in recognizing the role of the institutions like the council of elders in the community and the media in offering alternative Justice to members of the public.

Okero says there is need to build credibility and legitimacy of a number of institutions that deals with justice on the ground.

She says there is need to scale up the issue of alternative Dispute Resolutions at the grass root level.

“Building trust in these institutions require that perhaps the conversation should be taken further,” Okero says.

She adds that all the key stakeholders must be involved in alternative disputes resolutions mechanism.

Kisumu High Court Presiding Judge Justice Fred Ochieng says access to justice is real.

Justice Ochieng says research has shown that about 80 percent of the disputes that arise within the community are not taken to court, adding that the court only handles 20 percent remaining.

“Whether in family, church or school, people find solutions to their disputes,” Ochieng says.

He says the courts act as last resort to issues of settling disputes that arise within the community, adding alternative Dispute Resolution plays a key role in the settlement of various disputes.

Justice Ochieng says the role played by the Elders, Clan Leaders and Family heads is very important indeed and should never be ignored, adding that that is where true justice is found.

United Nations Development Programme {UNDP} Team Leader Governance and Inclusive Growth Dan Juma says for the last they have been implementing a program on Legal Aid with the support of the European Union with an aim of promoting access to justice through informal Alternative Justice System.

He says access to justice really means in addition to the judicial system, there can also be the use of alternative Justice System.