The Anguilla Government, through the Ministry of Social Development, the Attorney General’s Chambers, and other relevant stakeholders, is moving to pass two Model Family Law Bills which are expected to significantly improve the manner in which various family matters have been dealt with over the years.
The coming pieces of draft legislation are the Status of Children & Parentage Testing Bill 2016 and the Maintenance of Children Bill 2016, which have already generated much public interest and discussion. The Bills are among five harmonised and reformed legislative measures approved by the OECS Member States. Anguilla has already passed the first of the lot – the Domestic Violence Bill. The others on the list for later on are the Child Justice Bill and the Children (Care and Adoption) Bill.
Both the Status of Children & Parentage Testing Bill and the Maintenance of Children Bill were the subjects of a public consultation on Thursday evening, September 8, at the Teachers’ Resource Centre. Anguilla’s Minister of Social Development, Mr. Evans McNiel Rogers, gave a brief insight into both pieces of draft legislation.
“The Status of Children & Parentage Testing Bill provides, among other things, for the equal status of children by abolishing the distinction between children born in wedlock; and children born out of wedlock,” he explained. “The enactment of this Bill is an opportunity for Anguilla to move into compliance with the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) to which we are a signatory.”
The Minister went on: “The Maintenance of Children Bill … is to bring the law into conformity with the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Through restructuring and clarifying some of the existing provisions, this Bill – revised by our Attorney General’s Chambers – contains even more modern provisions than the OECS model. Access to children by both parents has been explicitly dealt with in this Bill. In addition to being obligated to maintain a child, each person so obligated is entitled to have the opportunity to participate in the upbringing of that child and to regularly visit that child.” That is “whether or not they are married or whether they are living apart.”
In explaining the approach taken by the Anguilla Government to deal with the legislative process for the two Bills, and the other three mentioned above, Minister Rogers stated: “Anguilla has established a Family Law Reform Review Committee with representatives from the Minister of Social Development, the Attorney General’s Chambers, private sector attorneys, as well as other relevant stakeholders. This Committee reviews each of the OECS Model Bills and makes recommendations to Executive Council as to how to best craft the legislation for the Anguillian context.”
During the above-mentioned public consultation, the provisions of the Maintenance of Children Bill 2016 were presented by Mrs. Jacqueline Sealy-Burke, a Legal Consultant with the OECS Law Reform Project and UNESCO. The presentation on the Status of Children and Parentage Testing Bill 2016 was done by Anguillian Attorney, Ms. Navine Fleming of Lybran Chambers, who provides pro bono service for the Department of Social Development in court proceedings and other matters.
Earlier, there were presentations by Ms. Lauraine Gumbs, Senior Social Worker in Anguilla, on “The Role of the Department of Social Development”; Mr. Francis Letang, Deputy Court Administrator, Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court, who spoke on “OECS Family Law Reform Project and implementation of the Model Bills”; and Mrs. Heather Stewart, a Child Protection Specialist with UNICEF. Her presentation was on “The Role of UNICEF and Anguilla’s Opportunity to comply with the Convention for the Rights of the Child”.
The informative public consultation was chaired by Mr. Sanford Richardson, Commissioner at the Department of Social Development. He was accompained by Ms. Lauriane Gumbs, Senior Social Worker.
Both draft Family Laws are available for public perusal and comment on the Anguilla Government’s website.
