AG presents laws for Family Court to National Assembly

TIMES INT'L
Legal Affairs Minister and Attorney General, Basil Williams submitted the Family Court’s rules to the National Assembly on Tuesday
Legal Affairs Minister and
Attorney General, Basil
Williams submitted the Family
Court’s rules to the National
Assembly on Tuesday

After months of revision, the Rules of Law for the much-anticipated Family Court have beencompleted 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 International 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.

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