Annual Report of the Judiciary of Trinidad and Tobago 2012-2013 Annual Report 2012-2013 | Page 35

2013 the pilot project reported that out of fourteen (14)
referrals only four (4) were accepted into the pilot project.
These participants were treated, provided counselling, and
are required to meet with their respective probation
officers at least twice per week. Where needed, the pilot
project has applied sanctions in keeping with the Drug
Treatment Court Policy.
The team overseeing the project is in the process of resolving a variety of issues surrounding the operational and
implementation aspects of the policies and procedures for
testing of participants, as well as meeting the time frames
for admission. While the DTC is still in its infancy, with
little more than rudimentary processes, the early successes
show that with a little care there is great potential for
treating drug offenders and in so doing reducing the
demand for illegal narcotics. The project is being
supported by the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control
Commission (CICAD), and the various stakeholder Ministries in working to realise the potential of this Court.

Court Annexed Mediation and Judicial
Settlement Pilot Project
In 2012, the Judiciary launched a pilot project for integrating mediation and judicial settlement conference as
alternative dispute resolution mechanisms under the Civil
ProcedureRules, 1998, as a way of improving the management of the Court’s caseload, and to e ncourage greater
utilisation of these means by litigants for settling disputes.
To date the project has seen the publication of the Practice
Direction in the Trinidad and Tobago Gazette dated January
18, 2013 (Vol. 54 No. 11), together with all relevant forms, as
per Part 4 (Alternative Dispute Resolution) of the Civil
Procedure Rules, 1998.
As of mid-July 2013, 67 cases have been referred for mediation. Of these, 20 have been scheduled for mediation and
33 are awaiting scheduling with the parties. Of the 14 cases
that have been through the mediation process, seven have
been settled, two have not been settled, four are still
ongoing, and one has been abandoned. For the Judicial
Settlement Conference (JSC) element of the pilot project,

59 matters were referred for JSC as of April 2013, while 22
have been assigned for settlement. Of those assigned, six
have been completed. Of those matters not assigned, 27
could not move forward given that Attorneys for the parties
had not filed their summaries as required.
The project is expected to be completed in the first quarter
of 2014. This date has been revised from the expected
completion date of the second quarter of 2013.

cial and Statistical section of this report.
Today, two critical supporting features for the Court remain
unfinished: the passage of the Family Court Act and the
establishment of the framework for the Family Court’s
Governance, the organisational structure, and a staffing
model. The latter is currently being dealt with under the
Judiciary’s Governance, Organisational Structure and
Staffing project, while the Family Court Bill is still undergoing revisions.

Centralised Coroners’ Court
In order to address the issue of the backlog of Coroners’
inquests, a project to develop a special centralised
Coroners’ Court was conceptualised. This project involved
reviewing the legislation and developing together with
internal and external stakeholders an established process
for Coroners’ inquests. The project also involves developing the organisational structure, and providing the
required accommodation for the Court. During the past
year, the Judiciary has been able to consult with relevant
agencies including the Police Service, the Forensic
Sciences Centre, and the public health system, for the
purpose of reviewing and modernising the processes for
Coroners’ inquests, as well as for developing the organisational structure of the Court. While work has been
ongoing in these areas, the Judiciary is awaiting approval
for the acquisition of a building to accommodate the Court.

Family Court of Trinidad and Tobago
The Family Court deals with the resolving conflicts and
disputes as they relate to family law. This body of law deals
with the rights of the child, the rights of the father and
mother, and covers a number of areas including marriage,
divorce, paternity, domestic abuse and violence, incest, and
alimony. During the last year, the Family Court has continued its work in encouraging litigants to resolve their family
disputes themselves with specialist assistance and support
and counselling where necessary. Statistics which give an
indication of the Court‘s performance during the past year
and compared to previous years are available in the Finan-

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Reshaping the

Judiciary Identity