Georgetown: After months of revision, the Rules of Law for the much-anticipated Family Court have been completed and were presented to the National Assembly on Tuesday.
The documents were laid over by Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Basil Williams for the House to review and approve before the official opening of the facility, for which a date has not been disclosed as yet.
The Rules of Law which will govern the practices and procedures of the Family Court had been completed a while ago; however, some “necessary amendments” had to be made. This process was headed by acting Chancellor of the Judiciary, Justice Carl Singh.
In preparation for the operation of the Family Court, several training sessions were held. Training was done with the staff at the registry and another session was held for members of the Bar and Judges as well.
The acting Chancellor had previously told Guyana Times that two Judges would be appointed to the new facility; however, at the time no decision was made as to who they would be. Justice Singh had noted that while there were no judges specialised in the area of family law, there were judges who are knowledgeable in the area.
“All of the Judges have been receiving training, refreshing programmes – in areas of law and procedures relating to the Court, so I would think basically all of our Judges are competent to preside in the Family Court,” he previously told this newspaper.
Nevertheless, the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), of which Justice Singh is the Chairman, last year appointed two more female Judges – former Chief Magistrate Priya Sewnarine-Beharry and former Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions (DDPP) Jo-Ann Barlow to the complement of Puisne Judges.
It has been almost five years since the Family Court building was completed and handed over to Government. Works were ongoing for about seven years to have the Court, which is located in the compound of the High Court in Georgetown, established.
The upper flat of the building will accommodate the courtrooms, the Judges’ chambers, and a children waiting facility, while the lower flat will be the Family Court’s Registry.
In 2010, then Human Services Minister Priya Manickchand had said the establishment of such a court was prompted by observations that Guyanese family units were affected by societal demoralisation. It is expected that the services of the Family Court would be mostly sought by the Social Protection Ministry, through the Child Care and Protection Agency (CC&PA).
The Court was established to address problems arising from dysfunction of the family unit, and to give special attention to child rights issues. It will handle issues such as divorce, division of property, domestic matters, adoption, guardianship, and custody.
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