Family Court likely within the month – Chancellor

Jun 06, 2015 News

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…lawyers urged to end adjournment culture
Five years after its construction, the country’s first Family Court is set to open its doors within the next month following the first sitting of the National Assembly.

This is according to Chancellor of the Judiciary, Carl Singh.
Speaking to members of the media at the Georgetown Club, Camp Street, Georgetown, yesterday Justice Singh said that though there had been many challenges deterring the court’s opening, the Family Court is almost set to come into operation.
The Chancellor remarked that there have been some changes to the initial rules governing the new facility which will be laid by Minister of Legal Affairs and Attorney General (AG) Basil Williams in the National Assembly, slated to convene next week, for consideration and passage.
According to Justice Singh, the revised rules will be transmitted to Williams for presentation. “Once that is done, it’s a matter of signing a practice direction to bring the Court into being. I don’t think we are going to go past a month. It’s been a long wait and as I said the reasons are many and varied and those are behind us,” the Chancellor told media operatives.
The final touches were put on the building in May 2010 but over the years the opening of the court which is housed in the compound of the Georgetown Supreme Court on Avenue of the Republic, Georgetown remained in limbo. At one stage, the procurement of furniture was cited as a reason.
But the Chancellor yesterday reported that Judges have already been identified, there is already a full complement of staff and he further revealed that the court will have its own Registry to cater to its needs. The new facility will handle cases of custody, maintenance, neglect of children, domestic violence and juvenile matters.
While some of these matters are currently being heard before High Court Judges, some are currently being brought before Magistrates in the lower courts. The Family Court is set to replace these practices.
A training seminar was held yesterday at the Georgetown Club, Camp Street, Georgetown through collaboration with the Supreme Court and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for Attorneys to familiarize them on the procedures that will obtain in the Family Court.
Justice Singh said that there is one more seminar in the pipeline for Judges in preparation for the process.
The Chancellor said that the start off of the Family Court has been beset by a number of difficulties and further dispelled the notion that the completed construction of the facility meant the court was ready to be launched.
Justice Singh highlighted “This Family Court, because it is going to be a specialized Court, will have its own special body of rules.”
He said it will be one in a specially created division of the High Court. “That body of rules we discovered, suffered initially from the ready availability of drafting expertise putting together.” He said the second difficulty faced was with the procurement of furniture.
Noting that 80 lawyers had expressed interest in attending the seminar yesterday, the Head of the Judiciary bemoaned the lack of attendance by others. He said “It just maybe that they will face an embarrassing situation when their unawareness of the demands of the rules become evident in the court before the Judges who are going to preside over those courts. It just maybe because of their lack of awareness and their misapplication or non-application of particular provisions of the rules, they are maybe not suited or faced with an exacting cost order.”
Justice Singh said those in attendance would leave with a clear understanding of the demands of the rules and with knowledge of the framework of the Family Court.
The Chancellor insisted that efficiency and timeliness should become known as the established standards of the new court. He said the Judges who will be presiding will have a key role to play in the achievement of standards.
Singh expressed hope that the Judges will deviate from current practice and it will be “Judge-driven courts” as opposed to “lawyer-driven courts.”
He implored the Attorneys to change “the culture of adjournments which has contributed significantly to the phenomenon of delaying that which plagues our judicial system. If we are able to achieve that change in culture, then I daresay that would be a significant and worthy achievement as well.”
“Over the past few days, everywhere you open the papers there was a cleanup going on in the country and I urge you now, let us also start a cleanup and let us get rid of this culture of asking for adjournments which contribute to delay.”
A number of Judges yesterday helped explain rules of the new facility. These were Justice of Appeal Yonette Cummings-Edwards, Justices Roxane George-Wiltshire, Sandra Kertzious, Dawn Gregory as well as Justice Brassington Reynolds.
Meanwhile, UNICEF’s Representative Marian Flack said the Family Court was urgently needed. She intimated that many aspects critical to the best interest of children fall under the domain of the family court.
Flack noted that much work has been done to achieve reform in legislation as it relates to children and it is important that these are well supported by reforms in other areas of Family Law in order to adequately protect children, especially those who “are too young to have a voice and ensure that their rights are upheld.”
“We must ensure that the Family Court meets the best practices, is supported by a comprehensive framework, has the requisite number of support staff and can meet the needs of its clients,” Flack said.
According to the UNICEF representative, the issues of family courts and the requirements that govern them have already been discussed through partnership with both the Guyana Bar Association and the Association of Women Lawyers in a joint Child Service Conference earlier this year.
She expressed hope that the experience gained will be taken into consideration not only for the training but in the long terms plans to ensure a valuable court. “The children of Guyana are depending on you,” the UNICEF representative charged the room packed with Attorneys-at-Law.

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