Family, Employment tribunals now part of the Judiciary |30 January 2015

Effective January 1, both the Family Tribunal and Employment Tribunal are now part of the Judiciary.

This follows a government decision taken last year in line with reforms which were taking place in the Judiciary.

The registrar of the Supreme Court Juliana Estico and Magistrate Brassel Adeline, who is responsible for the two tribunals, yesterday explained the reason behind the decision.

“The move was in line with reforms which had started in the Judiciary and also the Constitution which states that the Judiciary should comprise the Supreme Court, the Magistrates Court, the Court of Appeal  and the different tribunals,” Mrs Estico pointed out.

Mrs Estico noted that a committee was set up early last year to ensure the smooth and successful transfer of the two tribunals and it also met the employees of the two bodies to explain the reason behind the decision and clarify any concerns they had.

Mrs Estico explained that all employees of the two tribunals have kept their posts except for one who had previously requested for a transfer to another organisation.   

“The transfer has now been successfully completed but because of space constraints, the two tribunals will continue to operate in their present locations which are Victoria House for the Family Tribunal and Huteau Lane for the Employment Tribunal,” Mrs Estico said, adding that this will be the case until the new Magistrates Court Building  will be completed to accommodate them.  

Magistrate Brassel Adeline who chairs the two tribunals pointed out that the decision for the transfer is an important one as it shows progress in the way justice is administered.

Furthermore he explained that since it started operating in November 1998, the Family Tribunal has been functioning under different ministries with portfolio for social affairs and at that time this was necessary as the concept was still new.

“But the Family Tribunal has since developed, gained more experience and more maturity. Following increasing demands for its services, government has taken the decision to transfer it under the Judiciary in line with requirements of the Constitution,” Magistrate Adeline said.

He said the Family Tribunal was established with certain legal jurisdictions but over the years its powers have increased, giving it more importance as its services and the need for these services that it provides also increase.

Meanwhile Magistrate Adeline has announced that very soon there will be amendments to the Children’s Act to allow for the different administrative changes to take place in the two tribunals in line with the transfer.

Magistrate Adeline also stressed that the operations and functions of the two tribunals will remain unchanged.