BACKGROUND

The Ghana arbitration Centre was established on the initiative of a number of senior Ghanaian Lawyers to address a critical need in the country’s system of resolving civil disputes. For some time, successive Chief Justice of Ghana, the Ghana Bar Association, the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre and the Private Enterprise Foundation have all called for the introduction of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, such as arbitration, to alleviate the congestion in the courts and to enhance expertise and specialization in certain areas of the law, in particular, commercial and investment law.

The general public also yearns for more expeditious and cost-effective procedures for dispute settlement as a viable alternative to the normal process of litigation in the courts.

There is a strong consensus within the legal profession and the business community in Ghana that the establishment of the Ghana Arbitration Centre will reinforce the legal framework for protecting commercial or economic interests and accordingly inspire the confidence of the prospective investor in Ghana.

This derives from the growing realization, informed by international experience, that the existence of a viable, reliable, fair and expeditious system of dispute settlement is a key ingredient of the enabling environment for private sector development and for domestic and foreign investment.

The Centre was sponsored by a cross-section of senior members of the Ghanaian legal profession that included a retired Supreme Court Judge, seasoned practitioners in commercial law and arbitration, the current and former Director of Legal Education and Head of the Ghana Law School, a former Dean of the Law Faculty of the University of Ghana, the current and Past President of the Ghana Bar Association, Directors of Legal Divisions in the financial, investment and international sectors of the public service and a former director of an international institution who is an international commercial arbitrator.