A NPR radio interview today was discussing the current, as well as pre-quake, legal system in Haiti. It has its fair share of challenges, and then some. What caught my ear was a question about whether efforts to address the legal questions that arise in the camps of displaced people, in the rebuilding efforts, and other situations would involve only courts or some form of “alternative dispute resolution” through the use of village elders and other respected persons. The interviewee said that some assistance was available to train these people to help carry some of this load. No word on whether this ADR process would involve a mediated agreement among the parties, an arbitrated decision, or both.
Posted in Conflict Resolution in the News, Wednesday, March 31st, 2010