Child Care and Protection Agency (CC&PA) Director Ann Greene said she is looking forward for the speedy orders that will follow the commencement of operations of the Guyana Family Court.
Greene believes that with a system solely dedicated to the family and other related social services, Guyana’s children will be able to benefit from the speedy delivery of orders that will see them being placed into care and the work and services provided by the CC&PA would be boosted as family matters would also be resolved in a timely manner.
She made the comment during a telephone interview with this news publication on Saturday.
Greene said the CC&PA is geared towards providing social services for the family unit, and as such, the services of the court would be a plus for the execution of its duties.
The new body will also allow adults and children to seek redress and for family law issues such as divorce, division of property, domestic disputes, adoption, guardianship and custody to be discussed in a specialised and legal manner.
Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Anil Nandlall had previously expressed optimism that having a specialised court to deal exclusively with family and child-related matters would relieve some amount of pressure on the justice system.
He said the establishment of the court was decided upon following the recognition of the importance of having a speedy resolution of family-related cases.
Former Human Services and Social Security Minister Priya Manickchand had said the initiative of a Family Court was prompted by the awareness that the family unit is severely affected by societal demoralisation.
As such, in early 2009, Cabinet granted a two-fold approval to establish the court and erect a structure in the compound of the Supreme Court, where the entity is housed.
In the Ninth Parliament, the administration passed legislation to modernise the statutory landscape in Guyana with regards to children. These include the new Adoption Act, the Custody Act and the Guardianship Act.
Meanwhile, the rules governing the operation of the court were finalised and passed in the National Assembly during the latter part of 2012.
