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Family court yet to be utilised
Almost one year after works have finished on the country’s first family court, the building is yet to be utilised.
Yesterday when this newspaper contacted the Ministry of Legal Affairs, all calls and questions were forwarded to the Permanent Secretary.
However after two unsuccessful attempts to contact the PS by phone, a reporter visited the Ministry of Legal Affairs.
After arriving at the ministry the switchboard operator telephoned the PS’s secretary. Kaieteur News was then told that the ministry was not the requisite body to talk about the Family Court.
The newly constructed Family Court
The Minister of Human Services and Social Security, Priya Manickchand, was the next person contacted.
Yesterday in an invited comment the minister explained that the executive arm of Government has conceptualized the family court which was pursuant to a promise made by the People’s Progressive Party in its 2006 manifesto.
Kaieteur News was told that as a result of that, a physical structure was built in the Supreme Court Compound, Georgetown.
The minister explained that the rules of the court need to be made by the Rules Committee of the Supreme Court, which includes the Chancellor of the Judiciary and the Chief Justice, among others.
This newspaper was further told by Minister Manickchand that draft rules were done by Rafeek Khan.
Khan was retained by the government after being approved by the committee and the said rules were drafted and submitted to the Rules Committee in November last year.
“I was told that the rules are being considered, but a more reliable answer would have to come from the Rules Committee….as I have no jurisdiction to make rules or to answer for the Rules Committee,” Minister Manickchand told Kaieteur News.
She reiterated the fact that government remains committed to establishing the court, but stressed that the matters outstanding cannot be done by the executive arm of the Government.
The minister lamented that she would hate to see the hard effort that was put into conceptualization of the court, and ensuring that the building was completed, go in vain.
She said that the initiative of a Family Court was prompted by the awareness that the family unit is extremely important and that any dispute should be resolved with the view of preserving cordial relations. This is what the family court intends to assist with.
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