The Family Court

ONE OF THE few child-friendly initiatives in this country already in place is the Family Court of Trinidad and Tobago. Established just two years ago, it is designed to be superior to other courts in terms of services, with a more comfortable and relaxed environment for all parties involved.

Attorney-at-law Stephanie Daly told Sunday Newsday the Family Court was designed to be more “user-friendly”, with special facilities to ensure the well-being of children.

“The courts have been intended to be very customer-friendly which was not how courts were being designed in the past,” explained Daly, who pointed out that it was not set up exclusively as a result of the plight of children but is intended to deal with family issues in general.

“This wasn’t a court that was set up because we had a problem with our children. This was a court that was set up because we needed a better way of dealing with family matters in court. This was an experiment.

It was based on a number of things and how to change these things with minimal adjustments to everything else.

“You can’t change the whole world all at once but how do we get an environment where people don’t feel intimidated and belittled,” she said.

The Family Court provides Mediation Service which are conducted by specially trained personnel who serve as impartial third party and do not take any sides in matters.

“Basically, the court has five mediators on staff and when we outstrip that, there’ll be a roster of people, so it will be flexible. If you’re in court and there seems to be some possibility that negotiating can resolve the matter, the court can refer you to mediation, or if you think you want to access mediation, you can go to the court. You don’t have to start proceedings. If we have a family issue, the court will refer you to its mediation service.”

The court also provides Children Services, with specially assigned rooms for children involved in matters before the court. There is a Children’s Waiting Room, designed for babies and toddlers, with toys and games and supervised by personnel specifically trained in child care.

There is also a Youth Waiting Room where older children and young persons can look at television, read books or work on computers provided while matters are being dealt with in court.

Daly said while the court provides important services, it is just one of many facilities needed to adequately address the needs of children.

“At the end of the day, a court is just a court. We need the social resources to back it up because the court had difficulty placing children because of the restriction on the number of children’s homes and apparently the kinds that are available.

“The committee that was mandated to set up the Family Court, which I was chairing, recognises the surrounding problems but it’s just that obviously our focus was trying to design a new type