Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 19, 2021 (SKNIS): St. Kitts and Nevis is ramping up its alternative dispute resolution process by training 26 additional persons to become Court-connected Mediators.
A 40-hour training session, which opened on Monday (May 17, 2021) at the National ICT Centre, is the second Mediation Training course under an initiative supported by the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. The first Mediation Training course was held in 2019.
Dennis “Freddie” Knight, one of the first trained mediators in the programme, welcomed the continuation of the initiative. He addressed the participants and encouraged them to embrace the training, given the importance of conflict resolution to any democratic system.
“If you are coming into mediation, whether as counsel or participant, and you are not embracing it then really and truly it’s over because there is that easy fallback I’ll go to court and litigate it,” Mr. Knight stated.
Mediation was designed to resolve disputes between two parties without going to trial. The matter is usually by an independent court-connected mediator. If any of the connected parties fail to participate in good spirit, then the integrity of the mediation process will be undermined. This will likely result in failure to reach a solution that is agreeable to all involved.
Mr. Knight added that conflict resolution techniques apply to every sphere of life. He cited the divisive tone that is often heard on some local call-in radio programmes and noted that mediation can help to improve the discourse.
“You hear what’s going on in our community, that need to vent. We perhaps need mediation for daily living, for daily life, and so as you go through the course, I want you to think not just of the legal construct but how can we use this every single day,” Mr. Knight stated.
The Mediation Training runs from May 17 to 21, and May 25 and 26, 2021.
