IDLO – ACCESSING JUSTICE: SOMALIA’S ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION CENTERS
C. DUE PROCESS Case volume and types Jurisdiction
Section 6, SOPs
Within its respective district/region/area, Centers have jurisdiction to hear and give decisions over disputes between two or more individual persons that may be remedied by awarding monetary damages or restitution, including: » Family disputes such as: (i) valid consent for marriage; (ii) livelihood dispute; (iii) childcare and maintenance of the family; and (iv) inheritance » Disputes related to injuries not resulting in serious bodily harm » Acts of physical and other forms of violence, including domestic violence but excluding sexual violence and other forms of GBV that result in serious bodily and mental harm, and any other type of violence that results in serious bodily harm98 » Threats of physical or mental harm, including attempted female genital mutilation/cutting » Disputes in contracts or business » Disputes over ownership, possession or rent of immovable and movable property » Disputes involving extra-contractual liabilities and/or related damages incurred as a result of an accident, including road accidents, falls or similar causes » Disputes related to minor theft; and such other disputes of a similar nature which are not excluded from ADR Centers’ jurisdiction. cases can be unclear, and interpretation of information is contingent on a specific cultural understanding of matters, especially in relation to GBVAW.
Overall, a review of 447 case files revealed important insights regarding jurisdiction and record-keeping, namely that lines of distinction between the nature of Unspecified 1 Movable property dispute 2 Child custody dispute 2 Theft
5
Inheritance dispute
7
Rental dispute
10
Neighbors dispute
12
Severe bodily harm
16
GBVAW
26
Minor injury
56
Unspecified or other family dispute
59
Family maintenance or other marital dispute
65
Financial or business dispute
82 104
Land or immovable property dispute 0
20
40
60
Number of cases
80
100
120
*Total cases 447
Figure 15: Nature of disputes in case files reviewed* 98 Section 6(1) of the SOPs indicates that physical violence, not including sexual violence, is understood as: “shaking, slapping, pushing, punching, scratching, kicking, biting, locking someone out of their house or inside their house, sleep and food deprivation, trying to strangle or choke someone, forced feeding, physical restraint”. Domestic violence includes “verbal abuse, psychological abuse, threats, coercion, and economic or educational deprivation”. Serious bodily harm means: ”serious physical harm caused to the human body and in particular bodily injury that involves a substantial risk of death, unconsciousness, extreme physical pain, protracted and obvious disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member, organ, or mental faculty”.
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