South Africa’s justice system is undergoing a necessary and exciting transformation. After years of relying heavily on traditional courtroom litigation, there is increasing conversation around making dispute resolution more accessible, affordable and culturally relevant.
Is ADR the missing link?
At the heart of this evolution is Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), a set of processes designed to help parties resolve disputes without resorting to lengthy and expensive court battles. These include mediation, negotiation and conciliation – practices that align deeply with South Africa’s rich traditions of community-based conflict resolution.
For decades, South African legal education has focused almost exclusively on the Western, adversarial model of dispute resolution. This approach, inherited from colonial legal systems, trains law students to ‘win cases’ in court, often at the expense of understanding clients’ lived realities and community dynamics.
Graduates are frequently left with excellent theoretical knowledge but limited practical skills or empathy for the people they will eventually serve. The result? A legal profession that is often out of touch with the needs of ordinary South Africans.
Should law schools embrace ubuntu?
Some institutions now offer dedicated ADR or mediation courses. However, these initiatives unfortunately remain the exception rather than the norm, and we would like to see a greater move towards incorporating it into the curriculum more widely.
To truly transform the legal landscape, it is necessary for all law faculties to…
Dr Bronwyn Batchelor | Head of Faculty | Law | The Independent Institute of Education | mail me |
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