Alternative Dispute Resolution - The Role of Adjudicative Tribunals in Providing Speedy Adjudication: The Case of the Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal of Zambia

The study assessed the performance of adjudicative tribunals, as a branch of Alternative Dispute Resolution ADR, in addressing the challenge of inundation and delay in the formal court system in Zambia, through making a case study of the Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal CCPT. The study calculated the disposition times of published decisions of the CCPT from 2014 to 2017. The findings reveal that the average duration of disposal of cases was 11 months, a value significantly higher than the tribunals’ Key Performance Indicator target of 6 months. The study, however, notes that there has been a constant improvement in the duration of cases settled overtime. Also noted, is that ADR processes should be accountable to the court system and that any development which breeds unbridled preference for ADR has the potential to promote unhealthy competition with the courts. Thus, the study underwrites the oversight role of the Court on tribunal decisions through appeals