Unfulfilled promises

Jun 11, 2011 Editorial

On separate occasions the authorities promised two courts that could help reduce some of the situations that are fast becoming commonplace in the society. For example, there is a remarkable increase in the cases of domestic violence. One of the promised courts is the Family Court intended to hear every matter pertaining to the family.
These matters could range from delinquent children whose parents need help to deal with them, to errant husbands or wives, to child custody matters and even to the issue of maintenance and affiliation. There are also cases of child abuse and even child sex molestation.
Indeed, many of the victims would only seek the help of the courts when the situation becomes dire. Until such time, they are prepared to report to the various police stations and in remote locations, to the rural constable who has no legal standing in dispute resolution. In cases where the police become involved the most that happens without the court, is that the dominant partner in the violence would get a warning. The police cannot remove him from the home unless they are taking him into custody.
If something criminal happens then the prosecution is in the criminal jurisdiction.
We must also look at cases of adoption. These days there are many people who are reaching to unfortunate children or to parents who simply cannot maintain their children. The court must be in a position to deal with these things expeditiously.
The Family Court building is complete. All that is needed is staffing and this seems to be the major problem. It is common knowledge that the court system is very short of judges. Just recently it came to light that there were only two judges to preside over the criminal system in Georgetown. And that is only part of the problem.
There are times when one of these judges must spend an inordinately long time on a case. For example, during one session of the Demerara Criminal Assizes a judge had to conduct thirty-one voir dire, hear myriad witnesses and when it was all over that was the only case that she could have done during the session.
Where the judge will come from to preside over the Family Court is anybody’s guess. Lawyers in private practice are not keen to accept such appointments largely because of the pay. One would have expected that the government would have paid close attention to the situation. The salaries may have to be inordinately high. However, the exigencies of the work make such payments a necessity.
On Wednesday, the Cabinet Secretary said that there must be a change of the rules governing the court. One would have expected that from the time the government conceptualized the Family Court it should have moved to change the rules to allow this court to become operational.
Perhaps certain things are not important and it is this that must be responsible for the apathy in certain quarters. Meanwhile, people who need the services of the Family Court must suffer. Many women have reported that they have been advised to remain in the relationships because they could lose whatever entitlement they may have in the union. Some say that they have been advised that they could be cited for desertion.
Some died. Procrastination caused their death and certainly not because the victim was dilatory.
The other promised court is the Municipal Court. City Hall is at its wits end to collect monies owed to it by the large property owners. The last time the city council sought to make the rates and taxes more realistic the businessmen moved to the courts and secured an injunction.
In cases where the council must sell property to recover monies owed to it, the courts are so backlogged that the matter cannot be heard. By the time the case comes around the monies owed have increased but the courts, as they stand, would argue that there would have been a freeze on the taxes from the time the council moves to the court.
Guyana is too sophisticated for such situations to exist—where it cannot establish and maintain the courts. This has helped fuel the lawlessness. Never in its history have there been so many cases of murder accused being granted bail; never before have there been cases of accused persons being released because the cases have taken too long to be heard.
Can we recruit judges from overseas? Does our pride stand in our way? We should swallow that pride.

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Unfulfilled promises

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