Kangaloo: Family Court opens Monday

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO’s long-awaited Family Court will open its doors on Monday. This was announced by Social Services Delivery Minister, Christine Kangaloo, when she spoke at yesterday’s post-Cabinet news conference at Whitehall. The pilot project for the Family Court was officially launched by Attorney General John Jeremie and Chief Justice Sat Sharma at NIPDEC House in Port-of-Spain on Wednesday. The Minister recalled that the idea of establishing a family court in TT “has been mooted for several decades” and Government was pleased to take the first step towards making it a reality.

Kangaloo said the Family Court will operate between the boundaries of the St George West Magisterial Court and the Port-of-Spain High Court, and NIPDEC House has been reconfigured, both in terms of physical facilities and staff, to “serve as a friendlier atmosphere for the handling of family disputes.” She added that it was Government’s hope that the Family Court would be a “place to talk it out rather than fight it out.” Kangaloo stressed that the court’s main purpose is “to protect and preserve the institution of the  family.”