Successful Family Mediation in Practice: Learning the Lessons from Ghana

By Matthew Fiddy

‘This is too small.’ In an office in west Accra a mediator tells a father that his offer of child maintenance is not satisfactory. The discussion continues for another twenty minutes before the father eventually produces a figure that is accepted by the mother.

The parties were participating in mediation at the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) in Ghana, an independent organisation set up principally to promote human rights and guard against corruption. Over time, however, CHRAJ has become heavily involved in dispute resolution. The vast majority of these disputes are family matters, specifically child maintenance and custody issues.

CHRAJ resolves family disputes through mediation, a model that is still developing in England and Wales. As family mediation becomes more prominent as a result of recent reforms, the experience of CHRAJ could provide valuable insight into how the new system of family justice might work.

Family Mediation in England and Wales

Mediation remains a fairly alien thing to most parents in England and Wales. Research identified by Gingerbread, a charity set up to support single parents, indicated that while 50,000 couples are referred to mediation each year, only 13,500 couples actually participate. In addition, Gingerbread found that in recent mediation pilots in family courts only 17% of private law disputes were referred to mediation. These figures demonstrate that mediation is currently on the fringes of family dispute resolution.

This is likely to change significantly in the near future, however. The Family Justice Review (FJR), commissioned by the Government, reported in November 2011. The review strongly promoted the idea of mediation becoming the norm in family cases and outlined a new process whereby parents would have to follow various steps encouraging mediation before going to court would be possible.

In its response to the FJR in February 2012, the Government gave its full support to these proposals. Reaction from other groups to the review has also been largely positive across the political spectrum, even if concerns have been raised about implementation. Mediation, therefore, is likely to become a key aspect of the family justice system in England and Wales in the next few years.

The CHRAJ Model

While family mediation is only just coming to the awareness of policy makers in England and Wales, it is very much entrenched in dispute resolution in Ghana. 4,665 family cases were reported to CHRAJ for possible mediation in 2008, significantly higher than the number of family cases registered in court.

The process of dispute resolution is swift. Cases are typically resolved through mediation within two or three weeks of registration. Once a case has been reported by one of the parties to a dispute, an invitation is sent to the other party for mediation with a date.

When the parties arrive for mediation they are informed of the principles behind CHRAJ and the mediation process. These are that participation is voluntary, confidential and fair to both parties. One key difference to family mediation in England and Wales, however, is that the mediators are far more willing to give their opinions about proposed settlements to the parties directly (as the comment to the father in the above example demonstrates). If the discussions are successful, terms of settlement will be drawn up and then signed or (more often) thumb printed by the parties.

Statistics on Success

In 2008 12,919 human rights cases were reported to CHRAJ and the vast majority of these cases were family matters. 74% of the cases in this category, for example, were concerned with children, women’s rights, and property disputes between families. 9,693 cases were successfully disposed of by CHRAJ in 2008.  

The national picture is reflected on a local level. In Greater Accra for instance 538 cases were reported to CHRAJ in 2008. 358 of these cases were settled through mediation. More recent local figures also back up this trend. For example, in the west municipal office of the Greater Accra region, 36 cases were reported to CHRAJ in February and March 2011. All of these cases had been settled by the following month.

Lessons for England and Wales

There are many possible explanations for the success of CHRAJ. One factor already mentioned is the cost of litigation in Ghana. The monetary disincentive of pursuing a case to court undoubtedly helps to focus the minds of participants in mediation. In a country where disposable income is scarce any way of saving money in dispute resolution is welcome.

More optimistically for England and Wales, however, is the idea that mediation genuinely works for families. CHRAJ mediators report that talking to each other to resolve mutual problems has clear therapeutic benefits. The experience of CHRAJ in Ghana provides supporters of reform with evidence that mediation can bring about benefits for families that do not exist in the current system.

Despite this, there may be barriers to achieving the same success. One notable concern is the absence of representation or legal advice to participants at CHRAJ. Parties almost never receive legal advice before taking part in mediation, nor are they represented during the process. This means that there is the potential for power imbalances and negative outcomes for weaker participants. In England and Wales the recent legal aid reforms mean that many participants may also be unable to access legal advice in family cases. The disadvantages in terms of fairness experienced at CHRAJ may therefore surface in England and Wales.

Secondly, the cultural differences between Ghana and England and Wales may prevent family mediation from taking off as successfully. Ghanaians are well used to resolving disputes by talking to each other in public. This custom may derive from the tribal system that still exists across much of Africa. The idea of sitting down with family members and interested parties to resolve disagreements is natural and obvious in this part of the world.

In Europe the nuclear nature of most families means that there might not be this same willingness to collectively resolve private disputes. In general, people maybe less likely to openly discuss problems and more inclined to rely on the official and detached process of litigation.

Conclusion

The recent conversion of policy makers in England and Wales to the merits of family mediation means that there are important lessons to be learned from countries where this is the norm. The Ghanaian experience is certainly proof that family mediation can work, although there may be obstacles to achieving the same success in this jurisdiction.

Sacking More People to Boost Employment?

Yes you read it right. The latest suggestion to emerge from a government policy review is to make it easier for employers to fire workers. A report written by Adrian Beecroft, a venture capitalist and Tory donor, has recommended replacing the current right of employees to sue when they are unfairly dismissed with a concept of 'no fault divorce'. The implication of this, of course, is that Mr Beecroft thinks employers should be able to dismiss employees at whim, however unfair or unreasonable the decision may be.

Employment law in this country allows for employers to dismiss staff unfairly at any time up to the completion of one year's service. Furthermore, agency workers have no recourse at all to the law when they are dismissed without reason. This is not enough, contends Mr Beecroft, who suggests that reforming the law would encourage employers to hire more workers.

I'm sure he is right about this. Clearly there are advantages for employers in being able to hire and fire at will. But it seems to me like Mr Beecroft has missed the point about employment being a two-way relationship. In order to create the conditions for economic growth, businesses must be productive. This requires there to be a mutual arrangement of trust and confidence between employer and employee. If you study the most successful companies in the last twenty years, such as Microsoft, Apple, and Google, positive employee relations are a given. This is because it is highly doubtful that productivity would flourish in situations where employees have no sense of job security or stability.

The knock on effects for consumer spending of this uncertainty are equally obvious. If a person is constantly worried about his job, he is unlikely to spend money on the high street. He might choose to delay improvements to his house or purchasing a new car, for example. Mr Beecroft claims to be concerned about the competitiveness of the UK as a place to do business. It could well be argued however that foreign investors would think twice before relocating to a country with a notoriously fearful, insecure and unproductive workforce.

Central to Beecroft's idea is the notion that employers cannot sack workers who perform badly. In this he has clearly failed to understand the existing law. Incompetence is one of five reasons that employers are permitted to give when dismissing staff. Other permitted reasons include conduct (if an employee behaves badly) or sickness (if the employee takes too many days off). If this is not enough then employers are entitled under the Employment Rights Act 1996 to sack people for any other 'substantial reason'. Therefore there are multiple ways in which a firm can fire unproductive workers.

What this ultimately boils down to is a fundamental misunderstanding of the workplace by someone who, as a wealthy venture capitalist who finances the Tory party, has only ever seen it from one side. In order to stimulate growth in the economy, there must be confidence. Confidence cannot exist as long as there is insecurity and apprehension between the key economic actors. As Franklin D. Roosevelt famously said in the midst of the Great Depression - 'the only thing we have to fear is fear itself' - not our bosses.

The Generation Game

I'm just about fed up of reading articles that paint young people as feckless, lazy, and poorly educated. There is a widespread consensus in the media now that the youth of today are less worthy of support than previous generations. Apparently we are all shirkers who are not prepared to work hard or study real subjects, like our parents did in their days.

The latest roasting came from the pen of Rod Liddle in today's Sunday Times. Any criticism from a man who earns his living writing sarcastic pieces about difficult targets like gays and Muslims is hard enough to take but his article today particularly makes the blood boil. Liddle asserts:

'The main reason British employers prefer eastern European migrants is that they will work harder for less. But a contributory factor is that the domestic workforce our schools are turning out are badly educated, incapable of adding things up or writing them down and - most crucially - possessed of the attitude that they shouldn't need to do these sorts of onerous activity, that they are vibrant and valid individuals in a very real sense who must be respected and not, you know, put upon by stuff.'

Let's just examine some of these claims in more detail:

1. Are young people badly educated? Figures from the University and College Admissions Service (UCAS) show that over 540,000 people in the UK applied to study at university in 2011, the vast majority aged 18. This is despite the Government trebling tuition fees in the same year. Ah, but most of these courses are 'mickey mouse subjects' and not serious subjects that people used to study, right? Well I suppose so, if you consider medicine, the most popular choice, to be such a soft course. Or engineering, or law, both of which attract applications from over 100,000 young people.

2. Do young people lack basic skills? Government data indicates that last year's GCSE results were the best ever with 7 out of 10 students achieving grade C or above. Ah, but this is because exams are getting easier, right? Research from ChildLine highlights the shocking numbers of young people who break down under the stress of preparing for these 'easy' exams. In one survey of 1300 students, 96% reported feeling stressed, almost 50% claimed to have skipped meals, 66% said that they had trouble sleeping, and 14% admitted to drinking alcohol to cope with the pressure. Feckless youths, indeed.

3. Are young people afraid of hard work? It is often said that students are too lazy to do hard work. In 2008 NatWest found that almost half of undergraduate students worked part-time to fund their degree courses. This was before both the increase in tuition fees and the abolition of EMA. Some students are so desperate to work that they are forced to take jobs in the sex industry. The National Union of Students estimates that 20% of all prostitutes working in the UK are students - those very same students that have nothing better to do than riot and claim benefits, apparently. Ah, but what about those young people who do not study?  The Government enjoys celebrating its apprenticeship programme but information suggests that young people who want to learn a trade are likely to be disappointed. The Centre for Economic Performance, for example, found that there were only 11 apprenticeships for every 1,000 workers in the UK and 4 out of 5 companies reported barriers to hiring apprentices. So it's a touch unfair to say that young people are not up for hard graft.

These facts prove that contrary to popular opinion, young people are often highly educated, motivated, and certainly not afraid of working hard. Rather, they indicate that Liddle is the lazy one for peddling an evidence-free assumption that members of his generation use to justify their stranglehold on the property market, winter fuel allowance, bus passes etc. Maybe he would be more than happy to sell his (no doubt large) property portfolio, stop writing his bland columns and go back to university (of course he would have to pay this time). Somehow I doubt it.

Independence Day

Tuesday the 6th of March 2012 marked the 55th anniversary of Ghana's independence from the United Kingdom. The day was celebrated with a large parade in Independence Square in Accra, where the President inspected a selection of Ghanaian military and civil society personnel. Across the country similar parades were held and Ghanaians enjoyed a day off to party in the sunshine.

By Ghanaian standards, the parade proceeded in an efficient manner. Troops in traditional uniforms marched past the President first, followed by each regiment of the police and armed forces. New for this year was a special forces unit, decked out in camouflage gear and brandishing all kinds of modern weaponry.

The glossy nature of the parade was intended to demonstrate the significant resources available to this country. This was picked up in the press coverage in the days after the event as newspapers proceeded to pay tributes to Ghana's achievements as one of the fastest developing countries in Africa. It is clear that many Ghanaians regard themselves as privileged and fortunate by the standards of this continent.

As I come to the end of my stay here I have begun to think about the progress Ghana has made and the direction it needs to take if it is to truly join the developed world. In many ways, the newspapers commenting on the parade were justified in their optimism. Ghana has plenty of attributes its African neighbours can be jealous of. It has been free of war since independence was declared. It has been genuinely democratic since the 90s and has overseen two successful hand overs of power between political parties. Infrastructure is pretty good and education is fast improving. When you look for these things in other west African countries such as Sierra Leone, Nigeria, the Ivory Coast, Guinea, Liberia etc, it is easy to understand why Ghanaians are proud of their achievements.

Despite this, Ghana faces significant challenges before the dreams of its founders can be realised. The reality is that life is very hard for the vast majority of people here. Unemployment is rife and if you have no job, you have no money. There is no state support for the unemployed in Ghana. Many people scratch out a living by selling goods on the side of roads or at congested markets. There is an almost cavalier attitude towards life and death: since the opening of a new motorway in Accra last month 34 pedestrians have already died on the road. Corruption continues to plague society - it is widely expected for example that you must bribe police officers when they perform routine traffic inspections.

All of these things hold Ghana back and prevent it from becoming the first world country it inspires to be. The harshness of life is easy to witness. All one has to do to view real poverty is to take a short walk into the slums of Accra, Cape Coast or Kumasi. People in these places literally have nothing at all and the scenes are a far cry from the shiny military hardware on offer at the parade.

One last thing, however. It is a cliché that Africans are the happiest people on Earth in spite of their poor living conditions. After two months in this country though I can honestly say that it is true. The warmth and humour of the people is the most unforgettable thing about Ghana. Everywhere you go you encounter friendliness, jokes, music, dancing, and happiness. This is prosperity that cannot be recorded in studies or statistics. It is this that will stay with me as I leave Ghana and return to my 'first world' home.

Dealing with Death, Ghana Style

Last week I was honoured to be invited to the funeral of a local person in the town I am working in. The deceased was a young woman of 39 years, who sadly passed away last month. It is not uncommon for Ghanaians to invite a whole range of people to a funeral, even people like me who have never met the departed, so our presence at the ceremony was nothing unusual.

The funeral was one of the strangest experiences I have had since I arrived here. Having attended a few funerals back home, what struck me was how incredibly different the whole affair was.

In England funerals are usually sombre, quiet, low-key events. You are much more likely to see a quivering lip than outright sobbing. After the funeral itself, the parties tend to decamp to a small reception, which can be an awkward few hours of expressing condolences to the family and trying to remember the deceased in fond terms.

This is a million miles away from the Ghanaian experience. When we were escorted to our seats, the first thing we observed was the local pastor leading loud, vocal, and often musical tributes to the departed. Guests were on their feet clapping and singing to the music. There was no quiet reflection here; the party was well and truly in full swing.

Afterwards we were given the opportunity to observe the body, the first time I have done so. This was characterised by hysterical wailing from the people that knew the deceased. Mourners were literally throwing themselves around the room in grief, crying and asking the Lord why death had occurred. The deceased was placed in a fine casket and dressed up to look her best for the last time.

The funeral ceremony ended once the casket was brought out and loaded on to a pick-up truck to be taken for burial. One could not help but notice the sad contrast between the expensive casket and the ordinary pick-up used to transport the body. The guests at the funeral did not appreciate this inconsistency, however, and proceeded to wail at the casket until it was finally taken away.

This did not mark the end of the festivities though and some mourners stayed on for hours, dancing to the music and giving their tributes to the deceased over the microphone. Later I was told that some people attend funerals as a way of picking up a husband or wife! I was amazed by the grace with which we were welcomed. I doubt I would have the courtesy to tolerate foreigners who I didn’t even know attending a funeral of a close relative but we were embraced with open arms and treated to a generous helping of Kenkey afterwards.

Despite the warm hospitality, I could not help but think that the English funeral experience is a great deal more powerful. There was something artificial about the outright wailing – for me it is the person who tries to keep his composure and then loses it that gives a funeral its emotional resonance. That said, I thoroughly enjoyed this most interesting of cultural experiences.

Five Features of Living in Accra

Over the past month I have observed so many things about living in Accra. In this post I have collated those thoughts to try and give a picture of life in this most interesting of cities.

1. Food – it’s fair to say that there is not a great deal of variety when it comes to food in Ghana. Meat wise, pretty much the only option is chicken, probably the very same chicken you will have seen clucking away on the street a few hours earlier. Everything else is limited to rice, spicy sauces, fish, and various Ghanaian dishes. One of the most popular meals here in Accra is fufu, basically a soup served with mashed plantains. The key thing to remember is not to chew the mash. I made this mistake the first time I eat fufu, much to the amusement of my African colleagues.

2. Transport – the main form of public transport in this city is the tro tro. Essentially clapped out mini buses, tro tros are a remarkably efficient and cheap way of getting around. Disadvantages include a degree of discomfort – most do not have air conditioning and are packed to the rafters by over-enthusiastic tro tro mates (like bus conductors) – and the unbelievably high risk of fatal accidents. If you wish to take your own taxi, you will have no difficulty finding one. Taxi drivers in Accra have this annoying habit of honking at you whenever you are walking in the street in the hope of collecting a nice fare from an obruni (white person).

3. Entertainment – Ghanaians love television (when the power is on), bargain hunting, and football. Coming from England I thought I would find it difficult to encounter a society more passionate about the beautiful game. So far my experience of football in Ghana has consisted of watching the national team in the 2012 African Cup of Nations. The highlight was certainly the 2-1 victory over Tunisia after extra time. When the ‘Black Stars’ scored the winning goal, the whole bar erupted with celebration and the TV commentary was promptly replaced by loud gospel music. Sadly Ghana were narrowly defeated in the semi-finals by Zambia.

4. Religion – this is a subject that people in Ghana are very keen on. Accra is definitely a city for believers. Christian to the core, Ghanaians name everything after Jesus, from their car registration plates to their shops. Walking around Accra one cannot help but notice the proliferation of stalls brandishing titles such as ‘Christ is My Redeemer’ or ‘Jesus Loves You Barbershop’. This personal devotion is supplemented by extreme collective worship. Church on a Sunday is an absolute must and many services are large, pre-planned events featuring thousands of people.

5. Weather – the temperature all year round here is hot. It’s crazy to think that as I write this people back in the UK are buried in snow because the temperature has not dropped below 25 since I have been here. As much as I am enjoying this winter sun, I could not imagine living in a climate where the weather does not change. The only seasonal variations are rain (which occurs from March to September) and dust (Saharan winds blown south, occurring this time of year). Of course, one of the consequences I have suffered is crippling sun burn!

Dixcove

This weekend some friends and I visited the magnificent Busua beach, apparently the finest beach in west Africa. After spending a day playing football with hundreds of children, drinking beer and getting horrendously sun burned, we decided to venture out the following day to the nearby village of Dixcove.

Back in the day Dixcove was the site of the first fort constructed in what was then the Gold Coast. It served its purpose as the first of many points of power built by the British in order to suppress the local population and ensure dominance over the slave trade for many years.

Today the fort still stands and towers over the small fishing village beneath it. It is striking that despite the centuries that have passed, the fort remains the most developed site in Dixcove. The village itself is an astoundingly poor place. Those people fortunate enough to even have shelter reside in tin shacks; the rest sleep under wooden boats along with chickens, goats, and all manner of other animals. Our visit aroused huge interest with the local children and it must have been around thirty kids who occupied themselves by holding our hands and accompanying us up to the fort. Many of these children were without clothes and looked as if food and water were luxuries rather than everyday necessities.

Climbing the steep stone staircase up to the fort, one could not help but notice the young girl lying face down in the dirt. The image of a British man climbing over an African child en route to higher ground can hardly be new to this part of the world and it happened once again yesterday.

Our trip got me thinking about who should bear the ultimate responsibility for the sorry situation in which places like Dixcove find themselves. Without doubt, the British (and in other parts of Africa, the French and the Belgians) must take serious blame. When a country is ruthlessly exploited by rich powers for its people and resources, the impact on human development must be huge. There can be no ‘organic’ progression in these societies – they start with less than nothing and have to work out how to be modern liberal democracies from scratch.

Saying this, most colonial rule in Africa ended some time ago now. Ghana, for example, was the first of the governed African states to become independent and has ruled itself for almost 60 years. It has significant natural resources, an honest and educated population, and decent infrastructure. There must come a time when countries like this start looking after their own and taking responsibility for the staggering levels of poverty I have seen so far on this trip.

In the end, however, it is only going to be a partnership between the developed economies and the nation states themselves that is going to improve things for people in these countries. While the west maintains harmful and self-serving programmes like the EU Common Agricultural Policy, the potential for African states to compete fairly in world markets is artificially limited. Equally, while African governments (democratic and autocratic alike) consistently fail to eradicate the systemic corruption that has curtailed opportunity and meritocracy for years, there can be no real development.

I look forward to a time when I can return to Dixcove and observe that the old fort has become more of a quaint relic than the continuing dominant presence in this village.