Nassau, The Bahamas — The Attorney General’s Office and the Ministry of Social Services announced December 19 the establishment of a Family Court to be be located at the Town Centre Mall. “I would like the public to recognise that we take this very seriously. By any yardstick that you use to measure excellence, we have a blue ribbon committee. It is a very big vision. It is a fundamental change; a foundational change; it’s transformative, not just the way we look at things but it will change our society…for the better,” said Attorney General Senator the Hon. Allyson Maynard Gibson. “And as we go forward into another generation, here we are thinking about what institutions we are going to put into place to ensure that we actually build upon the wonderful things that have happened in the past 40 years and secure the future of The Bahamas, and what better place to start than the family.
That is the foundation of our society.” Judge Rubie Nottage, who chaired the Family Court System Committee, had remarks to describe the nation’s building services to the public. She said that the Attorney General, with the support of Chief Justice Sir Michael Barnett reappointed a committee that had been appointed in May 2008 and tabled a report that conceptually envisioned a family court and had set out some of the parameters,” said Ms. Nottage. “We were also to make recommendations as to where the Family Court might be located, and then to make recommendations as to what agencies, if any, might be located in the vicinity of the Family Court and any other recommendations that we may feel appropriate.” Ms. Nottage said the committee was appointed November 1 and given a time frame to report before the end of December. “But we are so excited that we wanted to get it into Madam Attorney General’s hands well before Christmas…your Christmas gift,” she said, to which Attorney General Maynard-Gibson said, ‘thank you’.” The Attorney General exercised foresight to advise the Committee to set out an Action Plan and implement the separation of criminal cases from civil cases, that are both being heard by the same judge on the same day. The solution will ease the burden of exposing the sensitivity and privacy of common civil disputes in an open court that is designed for hearing criminal matters. “The site that we visited first of course was Victoria Gardens, where the court had been sited. And some of you may have had the opportunity at times to visit that area, which has really given me quite a little bit of a pain in my heart, when I saw so many women and children, sitting and waiting at the end of each month or at the beginning of the school year for the payment of their maintenance or some statement as to when they would get that maintenance. It was just not pleasant at all,” said Judge Nottage. She said the committee felt that the surroundings at Victoria Gardens were not suitable for the concept they had of a Family Court. “So, we then went down and looked at the Magistrates’ Court at Nassau Street, or near Nassau Street. And that in itself has challenges as well, Madam Attorney General. It mixes the family and family matters in with criminal matters and it is our desire to keep family discussions very much unto themselves.”
Judge Nottage said the Committee was shown the Town Centre Mall for consideration, which is on the bus-line and within walking distance of those who would need the services the most. The Committee discovered that the reinvention of the top floor of the Mall can create an excellent arena for a Family Court. In the existing Mall, the Committee found that it could sit not only the judge or judges of the Supreme Court, whom will be assigned to that Court, but they may also sit the magistrates. She said it is important to have both levels of court sitting together because when an application is made to the Family Court, it moves expeditiously and is not stalled because a party happens to be in a Magistrates’ Court and needs to file an action in the Supreme Court and run there. At the Mall, everything is on the same spot and under the same roof. “A lot of concern was given to people who may approach the Family Court and they want privacy. They don’t want to feel that everyone is watching to see who is coming to the Family Court or ‘what are you doing here now?’, so we needed to have a facility that was to some extent, set apart unto itself, and very distinctly available for all members of the public, particularly within walking distance of the majority of our Bahamians in Nassau, particularly,” said Ms. Nottage.
“In the drawing that you will be shown, you’ll see that not only do we have a facility for the registry for such a court and the payment of maintenance payments and collection of the same, we have a site for the marshals. And in the Family Court, what is very interesting is marshals will be responsible for the service of process. We will not, that’s a legal term I know, but you will not have to go out and serve your own summons or find some one to serve it. It is a matter that the court will have control of. It means that the poor person who cannot afford to find someone to serve will know that the entire action has been taken control of and it will process and make its way through to its conclusion.”
Ms. Nottage noted that the drawings of the proposed Family Court allows space for the marshals , the listing officer, daycare facilities, and for adolescents to use a computer and view reading materials and be entertained, while parents are before the judge. “What is relevant here is that your case will be given an exact date or time, so for example, if I have a matter that is to come before the court questioning custody of my children, I may be told that I must appear before Justice Smith on Tuesday, the 20th of March at 2:30 p.m. My case will then go from 2:30 ’til 3:00, let’s say. That time is specific for you. You don’t have to arrive at court at 10:00 in the morning and sit around for hours waiting for your particular case to be called. You can bring your children to court because at 2:30 you know that you will be heard. You appear at court at 2:00,” said Ms. Nottage. She said the capacity is important for families because the objective is to conserve the family to really pay attention to the fact that families are important. She said it can be stressful when a person has to go to court concerning a matter about family. The ancillary services included in the plan are services that deal with mediation, which will help parties resolve their difficulties themselves. The mediator doesn’t dictate what the resolution is but he assists and facilitates in working out the problem. Senator Maynard Gibson said family breakdowns are not criminal matters and should be dealt with in a way that builds strong family life and shows respect for family life. She said she believes prevention decreases the opportunities to create violence and family court will prevent family cases from being buried under the priority of felony criminal cases, such as murder. She aid this is an exciting opportunity as the country celebrates 40 years of independence.
