Family Court — a huge success

Speaking at the Commonwealth Law Conference in London earlier this month, de la Bastide pointed out that the Family Court was established as a pilot project for two years. With eight months remaining on the project, De la Bastide said it remains to be seen what steps will be taken by the Government and the Judiciary to extend the jurisdiction and services of the Family Court to the all of Trinidad and Tobago.

According to the CCJ President, one of the reasons for the success of the court has been the adoption of case flow and case management techniques in combination with other strategies, all tailored to the peculiar requirements of the Family Court. De la Bastide said one unusual feature of the Family Court was that it was set up without the need for legislation.

"The court is a unified court in which both High Court judges and magistrates adjudicate. Both classes of judicial officer continue to exercise the jurisdiction given to them respectively by the existing law."

De la Bastide noted that the court was initially staffed by four magistrates and one High Court judge. In November 2004, a second judge was added, and in July this year, a third. The court, he added, was intended to serve Port-of-Spain and environs.

He said the magistrates who sit in the Family Court can only deal with cases brought by persons resident within the magisterial district of St George West in which Port-of-Spain is located. The same, he added, applies to the judges.

De la Bastide made reference to the latest in technology. He said the court can "hold a hearing by telephone or use any other method of direct communication."

The CCJ President said a major flaw in the summary court system in Trinidad and Tobago was the number of times on which matters are adjourned by magistrates before they are heard.

Not so in the Family Court, de la Bastide declared. Quoting from the draft report of the Family Court, de la Bastide pointed out that 63 percent of the cases were determined by magistrates at either the first or second hearing, and 77 percent at the third hearing.

With respect to the judges, 68 percent had been determined at the first or second hearing, and 86 percent by the third hearing.

"Perhaps the most convincing evidence of the Family Court’s success is provided by its popularity with the attorneys who practise in the field of family law as well as the law persons with family problems to whom word has spread of the court’s existence and growing reputation."

De la Bastide said that although the court was intended to serve Port-of-Spain and its environs, applications were being filed in the Family Court by and on behalf of persons who reside in every part of Trinidad, and in some cases, Tobago.