ABOUT CADR

CADR was established by the SLCCIA on 8 March 2010 to offer ADR services to its members and the wider national and regional business community seeking ADRredress. This is to contribute to creating a business environment that increases confidence of the private sector to make investments and to support the growth of businesses of all sizes.

CADR was established to meet the following specific objectives:

  • Ensure greater transparency in national dispute resolution methods thereby creating an enabling environment for businesses to grow and investors to be confident;
  • Provide a faster and cheaper process for conducting and concluding commercial disputes using the arbitration (national) method;
  • Provide a forum that formalizes and records court barre sessions and other business community dispute resolution cases with a view to establishing a precedent system for commercial cases resolved by ADR;
  • Reduce corruption in commercial case settlements through the empowering of businesses to ‘run’ their cases at the CADR using UNCITRAL rules adapted to Sierra Leone;
  • Establish national arbitration rules based on the UNCITRAL rules;
  • Provide ADR services to meet the ADR requirement that has been set as a prerequisite for parties bringing cases to the Commercial Court;
  • Promote Sierra Leone as a regional hub for international arbitration by training 50 arbitrators to serve on international arbitration cases involving Sierra Leone businesses;
  • Offer ADR training courses tailored to specific sectors and covering technical issues: mining, agricultural, cross-border disputes.
  • Establish a long-term sustainable centre through which SLCCIA which is more relevant to the business community and to partner with other national Chambers being established.

Benefits

  • Savings of time and reduction of Legal cost
  • Reduces time spent on litigation
  • Parties choose their mediator and have control over the outcome
  • Autonomy for the parties to an international dispute Choice of the applicable law and procedure and the language of the proceedings
  • The possibility of ensuring that specialized expertise is available on the tribunal in the person of the arbitrator, mediator, conciliator or neutral adviser
  • strict confidentiality
  • Increased party involvement in the process
  • Refer solutions and potential for creative problem-solving
  • Potential for preserving working/personal relationships
  • Voluntary and non-binding until agreement is reached
  • Speedy disposal without excessive cost
  • No scope for any Appeal
  • Transparency in proceedings
  • Total Impartiality, Fairness and Neutrality.

CADR Partners

The following are key partners who have developed the CADR into a viable and sustainable institution:

Dispute Resolution Foundation (Jamaica)

DRF is a key partner for the capacity building activities and institutionalization of ADR.

Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK)

The CIArb is the most respected body for training and accreditation of arbitrators. They provided the first set of training in ADR and arbitration in September 2013 in Sierra Leone.

CLAS Consult Limited

CLAS is a corporate consultancy firm in Sierra Leone and Liberia and a member of the Sierra Leone Chamber of Commerce. With its experience in ADR, CLAS has pioneered this CADR project and worked as the Project Administrator on a pro bono basis since its inception.

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