Against the background of high levels of gun violence and a backlog of court cases, local officials are ramping up efforts in support of community mediation.Officials of the IMPACT Justice Project In association with the Barbados Community College (BCC), held a final workshop on Monday, providing community mediation training for just over 20 people from across the country who are well-respected in their communities.Regional Director for the IMPACT Justice Project Professor Velma Newton said the mediation training was introduced based on the findings of a regional alternative dispute resolution survey done in 2014, which cited a backlog in civil and criminal cases as a major impediment to the access to justice.“We felt that with an increase in gun violence in our country, we should try once again to introduce community leaders to mediation techniques,” said Newton, who noted that the intention was to train at least two individuals from each parish and “a larger number” from St Michael.
