Human Services Minister Priya Manickchand has accused the Rules Committee of the High Court, headed by acting Chancellor Carl Singh, of dragging its feet in the start-up of the Family Court, months after construction of the court building was completed.
The court is intended to serve vulnerable families, she said on Wednesday during the 2011 budget debate, while registering the government’s disappointment in the Rules Committee. “We are disappointed, the executive arm, Mr Speaker, that the Rules Committee of the High Court is dithering with these rules… they have done nothing,” Manickchand said and she called on the committee to get its act together and adopt the rules.
But Chancellor Singh has since called on the Minister to “get out of her orbit and come back to planet earth” and deal with the start-up problems facing the proposed Family Court. He said that even if the rules were to be approved tomorrow, the court would not become functional. “I can sign a Practice Direction as I am authorised at law to do and bring the Family Court into being as a division of the High Court with the stroke of a pen, but this still will not bring the Family Court into being,” he told Stabroek News last week.
Chancellor Singh said he was aware that a consultant was identified to prepare draft Rules of Court for the Family Court and by chance he managed to obtain a copy of them. However, he noted that the draft rules were never officially sent to his office for consideration of the Rules Committee.
Chancellor Singh observed that if the rules are transmitted to him formally for consideration by the Rules Committee, then there would be no delay in the committee considering them. He recalled that some time ago the local press had reported that Cabinet had charged Ministers Manickchand and Robeson Benn with oversight responsibility for the construction of the court building, in addition to making the court operational. The Supreme Court had no involvement in the oversight of the construction of the Family Court building, according to the Chancellor, and he noted that in the course of construction neither of the Ministers kept him or acting Chief Justice Ian Chang updated on the progress of the building. “We were left to rely on the evidence revealed to us by our own eyes to determine progress of the building under construction,” he said.
Manickchand mentioned that the Family Court was a promise made in the PPP/C’s 2006 party manifesto and she stressed the government had delivered to the people of Guyana. She mentioned that Cabinet had empowered her ministry as well as Benn’s ministry with oversight for the project, and she charged that the lack of movement on the part of the Rules Committee forced the government to contract a consultant to draft the Rules of the Court. Attorney Rafiq Khan was the consultant on the project.
Manickchand said Khan handed over the rules to the Chancellor since October last year and nothing has happened since.
“We call on the Rules Committee to stop the sloth and get this court established… we are very keen to look after our families that find themselves in difficult circumstances in the best way possible, so that children coming out of these broken relationships or disputes can grow up in the most amicable atmosphere,” she said.
Manickchand charged that the committee needs to get its act together and adopt the rules, and added, “Whether they have to consult with the Bar over it or whatever, we want the Family Court passed!”
However, the Chancellor Singh noted that the building has not been officially handed over to the Supreme Court.
He explained that for many months there was considerable delay by the Ministry of Finance in giving its approval for payment to the electrical contractor so that a supply of electricity could be provided to the building. He pointed out that the payment was only recently made.
In addition, Chancellor Singh said the building is completely without any furniture and is “merely a shell, which is not yet functional.” The question of judicial staffing and ancillary support staff for the court has also not been resolved, he observed. “I expect the minimum courtesy of a formal transmission of the draft Rules of the Family Court to me, and I assure that they will be expeditiously dealt with,” he added.
Cabinet cleared the way for the Family Court in 2008 and subsequent budgetary allocations were set aside for the project.
At the time of the announcement, it was stated that the court will come under the jurisdiction of the High Court and will deal with all family-related disputes.
Minister Manickchand said then that when considering several of the new laws that the government intends to institute, it was decided that the legal system will be better served if it had its own court that dealt specifically with family matters.
It was the Minister’s opinion that the establishment of the court will also speed up the legal proceedings in family matters, which often drag on for years.
