Things have gotten much busier. The last few weeks have been a blur of activity, and thankfully, productivity. The overall disposition towards mediation continues to pick up and gain more and more acceptance. Things are coming to fruition more quickly. Much of the current progress is attributable to the placement of a new Registrar, John Arutu, who is organizing and facilitating mediation in the Commercial Court to an extent heretofor unseen, on an administrative level. That has been a huge help. He is also gone through training to become the third active mediator currently practicing in the Commercial Court. The other is my counterpart from South Africa, Ms. Nox Ntuli. She is an excellent lawyer and mediator who has been in the court since late last year, but has been developing the new training materials for training mediators, as well as taking on a full mediation docket. I will try and get a good picture of the three of us together and post it.
As I was mentioning, the disposition towards mediation is starting to turn towards the positive. Last Thursday the 13th we held a very large, half-day event in a local hotel. With 70+ CEO's, MD's (Managing Directors), and other Executives, Judges, Law School Administrators, and Court Staff, Justice Kiryabwire and I both gave presentations on the advantages, challenges, and background of mediation, along with the role that the court users play. The event was very well-attended, by both participants and press. I had my first television interview. Unfortunately, I did not get to see it, but others said they saw me. We were honored to have the Honorable Principal Judge Ogoola (3rd Highest Judge in Uganda) open the workshop and the Honorable Chief Justice Odoki (Highest Judge in Uganda) close the workshop. The entire event was giant success, with many of the heads of Uganda's biggest companies (banks, telecom, construction) attending and getting acquainted with why mediation is should be taken seriously and a good faith participation is to their advantage.
Now, with May quickly coming to a close, I will be receiving ten law students from Pepperdine this weekend--and the snowball just keeps getting bigger. It will be great to have the students here, and I get the privilege of orienting them, as Justice Kiryabwire is in Paris sitting on a UN Appeals Board for a few weeks.
Next month will bring more trainings, adventures with the students, the World Cup (I am getting to attend, thankfully), and more mediation. Hopefully you all won't resent me too much for not having posted in three weeks, but wanted to give you and update and give you the tree top of the past and coming months. Will post more as soon as I can.
Peace to you all.
Thursday, 20 May 2010
Friday, 30 April 2010
HHHEEERRRREEEE"SSSSS.......BUGYAGA!
Yep, Bugyaga. I am still getting the pronunciation down myself.
The name is in Justice K's local language: Lugwere. It means - prosperity. I figured, since I plan to pass the goat along, I would put a name that would carry some meaning and blessing for the next owner. Here he is, the billy goat with the most, who all the men goats want to be and all the women goats want to be with. Just look at that focus, the determination. He is ready for big things.
Thanks to Justice K for taking this picture.
*All photos are copyright John M. Napier unless otherwise indicated.*
The name is in Justice K's local language: Lugwere. It means - prosperity. I figured, since I plan to pass the goat along, I would put a name that would carry some meaning and blessing for the next owner. Here he is, the billy goat with the most, who all the men goats want to be and all the women goats want to be with. Just look at that focus, the determination. He is ready for big things.
Thanks to Justice K for taking this picture.
*All photos are copyright John M. Napier unless otherwise indicated.*
Sunday, 11 April 2010
It's Official. . .
I am now the proud owner of a goat. Yep, that's right. I am one step closer to being African. And a farmer too, I guess. The picture above was taken by the giver of the gift, Justice Kiryabwire. He graciously invited me to the farm located in the village area where his family is from in eastern Uganda. Not sure I look very natural (in fact I think I look awkward here), but I was very grateful and honored.
As a post script, sorry for the long silence. Much has happened since my last posting and things are progressing, but I have been worn a bit thin. With that said, I need to get back to regular posting and will do so as soon as I can. Thanks for your patience, to all two of you who still check this thing.
*All photos are copyright John M. Napier unless otherwise indicated.*
Friday, 12 March 2010
Sipi Falls
View Looking out of the Valley into eastern Uganda.
Here is the bottom of the three different falls. Simply beautiful.
This is the first waterfall at the top. It was quite a hike but completely worth it.
*All photos are copyright John M. Napier unless otherwise indicated.*
Alive and Well
It has been far too long since I last posted. But, what are you going to do, sue me? If you do, can I suggest mediating before going into court?
Anyway, this is a brief update to say that mediation is going much better than it has been. I am still hoping to tell you the story of the best mediation session so far, but it has not fully resolved, and I am hoping it has a happy ending so I can share it.
The new Registrar who replaced the other mediator here in the Court is doing a great job administratively getting things set up and streamlining the process for mediation. Good things are happening and mediations actually seem to be moving better as well. Hopefully the trend continues.
I will post some pictures of another beautiful area I was in last weekend. It is out right near where most of the landslides were.
That's all for the moment. Just wanted to post something briefly to let everyone know I am still alive.
Anyway, this is a brief update to say that mediation is going much better than it has been. I am still hoping to tell you the story of the best mediation session so far, but it has not fully resolved, and I am hoping it has a happy ending so I can share it.
The new Registrar who replaced the other mediator here in the Court is doing a great job administratively getting things set up and streamlining the process for mediation. Good things are happening and mediations actually seem to be moving better as well. Hopefully the trend continues.
I will post some pictures of another beautiful area I was in last weekend. It is out right near where most of the landslides were.
That's all for the moment. Just wanted to post something briefly to let everyone know I am still alive.
Thursday, 18 February 2010
Success without Success
I am hesitant to say that mediation has turn a corner here, aware that I may just be in a sweet spot of situations, but things are looking up, and on the heals of the affidavit impugning my character no less.
Yesterday, I had a mediation with parties both local and international (and I know I have not spoken with much specificity about my mediation sessions, which is a direct result of abiding by the Commercial Court's Confidentiality rules concerning everything involved with the mediation--which means I will use as many details as I can without breaking the rules so you can understand the situation). In this mediation, I had a person who had flown in from another country far away the night before and was flying out the next day, so the pressure was on to try and reach some sort of settlement or resolution. As it turned out, we did not settle, and yet I consider the mediation to have been a rousing success. How is that, you ask?
First, something about mediation. As I was trained, the goal of mediation is to help the parties come to "informed decision-making." This means that regardless of settlement/resolution or not, you can be successful in mediation. As much as I identify with that, I have been skeptical, focusing more on trying to get the parties that come through my office to find a resolution either through collaboration--possibly in the form of future business dealings together--or in the form of compromise--negotiating a settlement between the parties so that they can both move on. Mediation is mandatory here in the Commercial Court. EVERY case that is filed is supposed to go through the mediation process to either settle or be sent back to the judge for adjudication. So there is a real desire to see the parties settle their dispute, not only for the parties sake but also for the court's sake in reducing the back log. But let me pause to say once again: I CANNOT MAKE ANYONE SETTLE. Just wanted to make that clear once again.
So here is a large dispute over somewhere in the neighborhood of 1/2 a Million US Dollars, large international companies and local companies, a person who has flown a long way, and here we are mediating. We go around for about two hours then I split the parties up and start caucusing (private meetings with each side), and it comes down to the fact that one side is not in a position of willingness to collaborate or compromise. I push and prod and appeal to every angle I can see or think of, from the risk of court to the strength of the claim, to help them assess whether there is any avenue of resolution. And when it came down to it, there was no avenue, at least that I was able to find. And though the other side made an initial offer, there was no compromise. When we concluded after three hours of mediation, I encouraged the parties to keep talking with each other, and one of the parties said they could use more information to assess its position, to which I encouraged the parties to help each other and let them all know that if they would like to come back--because Court would be at least 8-12 months away--that I would leave room on my calendar for them to continue mediating.
Afterward, the person from the country far away, who was a lawyer and also a mediator, said that it was one of the best mediations they had been apart of (which really wasn't a bust to the ego as much as it was an encouragement to keep trying, because positioning yourself in the middle of conflict all the time gets tiring and really discouraging if people do not come to a resolution despite all your efforts). Everyone walked away, though without a resolution, with a better sense of what the situation was from both sides and how to possibly move forward in the future. Essentially, they both came to an informed decision--one with a willingness to compromise and the other with the realization they were not in a position to meaningfully compromise.
And that was an instructive moment for me. Success in mediation does not always mean settlement: a lesson I needed to learn.
. . .but here's to hoping that more resolutions happen (which they already are--I look forward to telling you all the best story of mediation so far in Uganda, but I need to wait a little while longer to make sure it fully concludes before I share).
Peace to you all.
Yesterday, I had a mediation with parties both local and international (and I know I have not spoken with much specificity about my mediation sessions, which is a direct result of abiding by the Commercial Court's Confidentiality rules concerning everything involved with the mediation--which means I will use as many details as I can without breaking the rules so you can understand the situation). In this mediation, I had a person who had flown in from another country far away the night before and was flying out the next day, so the pressure was on to try and reach some sort of settlement or resolution. As it turned out, we did not settle, and yet I consider the mediation to have been a rousing success. How is that, you ask?
First, something about mediation. As I was trained, the goal of mediation is to help the parties come to "informed decision-making." This means that regardless of settlement/resolution or not, you can be successful in mediation. As much as I identify with that, I have been skeptical, focusing more on trying to get the parties that come through my office to find a resolution either through collaboration--possibly in the form of future business dealings together--or in the form of compromise--negotiating a settlement between the parties so that they can both move on. Mediation is mandatory here in the Commercial Court. EVERY case that is filed is supposed to go through the mediation process to either settle or be sent back to the judge for adjudication. So there is a real desire to see the parties settle their dispute, not only for the parties sake but also for the court's sake in reducing the back log. But let me pause to say once again: I CANNOT MAKE ANYONE SETTLE. Just wanted to make that clear once again.
So here is a large dispute over somewhere in the neighborhood of 1/2 a Million US Dollars, large international companies and local companies, a person who has flown a long way, and here we are mediating. We go around for about two hours then I split the parties up and start caucusing (private meetings with each side), and it comes down to the fact that one side is not in a position of willingness to collaborate or compromise. I push and prod and appeal to every angle I can see or think of, from the risk of court to the strength of the claim, to help them assess whether there is any avenue of resolution. And when it came down to it, there was no avenue, at least that I was able to find. And though the other side made an initial offer, there was no compromise. When we concluded after three hours of mediation, I encouraged the parties to keep talking with each other, and one of the parties said they could use more information to assess its position, to which I encouraged the parties to help each other and let them all know that if they would like to come back--because Court would be at least 8-12 months away--that I would leave room on my calendar for them to continue mediating.
Afterward, the person from the country far away, who was a lawyer and also a mediator, said that it was one of the best mediations they had been apart of (which really wasn't a bust to the ego as much as it was an encouragement to keep trying, because positioning yourself in the middle of conflict all the time gets tiring and really discouraging if people do not come to a resolution despite all your efforts). Everyone walked away, though without a resolution, with a better sense of what the situation was from both sides and how to possibly move forward in the future. Essentially, they both came to an informed decision--one with a willingness to compromise and the other with the realization they were not in a position to meaningfully compromise.
And that was an instructive moment for me. Success in mediation does not always mean settlement: a lesson I needed to learn.
. . .but here's to hoping that more resolutions happen (which they already are--I look forward to telling you all the best story of mediation so far in Uganda, but I need to wait a little while longer to make sure it fully concludes before I share).
Peace to you all.
Friday, 5 February 2010
Sunset
Sunsets in Africa are breathtaking, even ones in town. Here is one I took near the top of the road that runs in front of the Commercial Court looking down in the downtown area. I wish I could get a picture right into the sunset, but there are obvious obstacles to that. Enjoy.
*All photos are copyright John M. Napier unless otherwise indicated.*
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