Chief Justice suggests improvements to the Family Court

The time had come to introduce some form of quality assurance system to monitor the work carried out by mediators in marriage separation cases, Chief Justice Vincent De Gaetano said today.

Speaking during a conference about families in the law courts organised by The International Commission on Couple and Family Relations (ICCFR) and the Cana Movement, the Chief Justice also argued that lawmakers should consider introducing a special warrant for lawyers in the Family Court to ensure they are trained to deal with the sensitive nature of the cases.

He explained that the bulk of cases before the Family Court were cases of separation and annulment. Since mediation was introduced, in 2003, couples seeking separation have had to first appear before a mediator before going for litigation. The mediator tries to reconcile the couple or work out an amicable separation.

Dr De Gaetano said that if the case moved on to litigation, the tension in the court room was often palpable. "The situation is not made easier when lawyers use inflammatory language to make some point or refer to the opposing party in very uncomplimentary terms," he said.

Furthermore, children were often used as pawns by their parents and sometimes, unfortunately, even by insensitive lawyers, hence the need for special training and a special warrant for lawyers.

Chief Justice De Gaetano explained that while judges' work could be assessed because hearings were open to the public, mediation took place in a room where only the parties, their lawyers and the mediator were present. It was for that reason that he would like some sort of quality assurance of the mediators.