Morean: Panday delayed Family Court

ATTORNEY GENERAL Glenda Morean yesterday said a family court system would have been established in Trinidad and Tobago were it not for the “virtual war” between former Prime Minister Basdeo Panday and the Judiciary.

Piloting a Bill in the Senate to amend the Supreme Court of Judicature Act, the AG recalled that the need for a family court in TT dates back to 1979 and her predecessor Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj had devised the Family Court Bill 2001 to address the matter. Morean lamented that were it not for Panday’s “clear attempt to control the Judiciary” while the UNC was in power, the split in the UNC in 2001 and certain flaws in the Bill, the court would have been a reality today. Morean said since the PNM came into office, she has worked hard to mend fences between the Executive and the Judiciary because the AG “is a conduit” between these two bodies. She disclosed that Cabinet agreed to implement an April 2002 report from a committee headed by former Law Association president Stephanie Daly to create a “well-established family court” in TT.

The AG explained there were currently nine Court of Appeal justices (excluding Chief Justice Sat Sharma) and a maximum of 20 High Court justices and the amended legislation will allow for three additional judges for the latter area. Morean added that these three judges will be the pioneers for the new family court. The AG also recalled concerns raised by CJ Sharma and his predecessor Michael de la Bastide about increased numbers of judges and said the amended legislation would go a long way towards addressing these longstanding concerns. The Opposition and Indepen-dent senators expressed their support for the amended Bill but asked that the numbers of judges be larger than the figures proposed by the Government.