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{
    "id": 936205,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/936205/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 326,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wetangula",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 210,
        "legal_name": "Moses Masika Wetangula",
        "slug": "moses-wetangula"
    },
    "content": "Yes, it does. It says that those things cannot go to alternative dispute resolution. I am praising the drafter of the Bill for including this because if you just say we embrace alternative dispute resolution, then we will be opening the country to chaos. She has done very well. You cannot subject criminal activities to alternative dispute resolutions. They must be dealt with within the criminal justice system which we also encourage to dispense justice faster. Equally important as I come to an end because I see my time is running out, I have seen that Sen. Kasanga has provided for advocates to appear before these processes, which is okay. However, we should not transfer the problems that are bedevilling the law courts to other centres of dispute resolution. This is because part of the problem of the backlog of cases in the High Court and other law courts are lawyers; I am one of them. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, you will find a lawyer with six cases for hearing on one day and he can only represent one. Sometimes people do not come to your law firm because they want any lawyer; they want you as the lawyer. Therefore, let us not transfer the burden that lawyers have placed on the Judiciary into other dispute resolution mechanisms. If you have a problem to do with land, anybody with sufficient knowledge on land can come and help you present your case. It does not have to be a qualified lawyer or an admitted advocate. If you have a problem of accounting with somebody who has cheated you in business, you do not need to look for a lawyer; get somebody with sufficient knowledge in accounts to put your figures together, present them for you and be listened to. The Bill provides that you can come with a lawyer or any other expert, which is okay. Of course, people have the right to have the confidence of being represented by lawyers where they want. We should also give them an opportunity to get Okiya Omtata or anybody of that calibre to go and make a representation for them and have justice done. More importantly, I encourage Sen. Kasanga to also have some penal clauses in cases where people who are appointed as dispute resolution facilitators turn into corrupt cartels. This happens, you find a conciliator is given an opportunity to reconcile parties and starts engaging in bad practices. I know that the Bill provides that such a person can disqualify himself or herself. However, if such a person is found culpable, he or she should be punished by law. You cannot accept to solve problems between people and end up multiplying problems between them through dubious and devious moral behaviour. That is not acceptable. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I want to end here by saying that this is a very important Bill. As a legal practitioner in this country for many years, I know the pain that the ordinary citizens go through to access justice. I know the pain that the ordinary The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}