ADR, in particular mediation, is set to take a central role in the litigation landscape in South Africa. New court rules make mediation a compulsory step for all civil and commercial litigation, and a pilot project is due to be introduced in the second quarter of 2012 in all high courts and in nine regional civil courts. The Department of Justice has given a clear indication that the government intends to use mediation to reduce the backlogs in courts.
In addition, the King III Report on corporate governance places a fiduciary duty on management to consider the use of ADR, in particular mediation, before deciding to litigate.
In response to these developments, an African Commercial Dispute Settlement Centre opened on 16 March in South Africa to give organisations across the Continent the chance to make use of alternative forms of dispute resolution (primarily mediation and arbitration) to resolve disputes quickly and more cheaply.
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