By Gerrino J. Saunders
Journal Staff Writer

The new Family and Juvenile Court Complex is now open and will allow for
confidentiality of sensitive family matters to be assured. Prime Minister Philip
Davis cut the ribbon to mark the complex officially open.
The new courts come complete with mediation rooms and expertise for pretrial
dispute resolution when dealing with family disputes.
During the opening of the new Family Court Complex yesterday the Prime
Minister said, “in the near future, many families will receive fair
consideration, equitable solutions and balanced remediation of their
circumstances here at this complex. When we talk about strengthening the
justice system, we often talk about the criminal justice system but we must
never forget the many ways that justice can be delivered.”
He said, “certainly for many families who find themselves navigating
tragedies, disputes, and custody arrangements, there is a vested interest in
expanding the capacity of our cause to see more cases and speed up the
process by which they receive justice.”
Mr. Davis noted that the family unit is the basic building block of our
society.
He said, “when families thrive, societies thrive. Conversely, when families
struggle, when they are not supported, when they are disenfranchised, that
is when we see social decay and communities in decline. So, we must
invest heavily in protecting our families and facilitating justice on their
behalf.
“If this complex can help to protect a child, support a mother, or provide a
fair arrangement for a father seeking to be in his child’s life, if this complex
can deliver these outcomes at a faster pace, thanks to our expanded
capacity, then this investment would have been worth it” said the Prime
Minister.

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Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Senator Ryan Pinder said, “this is
the first step in our infrastructure modernization project for the Judiciary.
“We recognize that in order to maximize our effectiveness and our access to
justice, we must ensure that the Judiciary has the facilities and tools to do their job.
Today is the first step in our comprehensive court complex improvement
program.”
Once fully complete the courts will do the work of the family and domestic
Magistrates Courts, the Family Division and the Probate Division of the Supreme
Court, their registries, the Juvenile court and the Mediation Center.
According to Senator Pinder the registries have moved and the Magistrates courts
section is completed. The refit of the Family and Probate divisions would be
completed by the time of the opening of the new year.
The final phase would be to complete the juvenile courts and the mediation center.
Pinder said, “the Family Court Complex is our first step not only for a modern
court infrastructure, but towards the long-promised system of specialty courts. We
continue to advance to ensure a full complement of specialty courts is realized.
“We firmly believe that different disputes, disciplines, and sensitivities of matters
before our courts require their own judicial infrastructure focus,” he said.
The Attorney General explained that in the family and juvenile context, privacy is
important, as is the ability to try to mediate disputes and come to equitable
resolutions. He said the new complex achieves these goals.
Meanwhile, he also said it is “purposeful” that this complex is away from the main
Supreme Courts, allowing focused and dedicated dispute resolution, with an
emphasis on proper mediation, to try to mitigate the adversarial approach and
posture when it comes to family and juvenile matters.
“This is just our first step,” he said. “However, I am pleased to announce that the
government’s SPV, Poinciana Holdings, has acquired a facility that will be utilized
for a dedicated Commercial Court.

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“The Bahamas has struggled in the ease of doing business for some time, and one
of the complaints is the time it takes to adjudicate commercial disputes. These
disputes can range from bank lending disputes to complex commercial contractual
breaches.
“In order to be an attractive jurisdiction for business to do business, we need to
assure that commercial disputes can be adjudicated efficiently and effectively and
ultimately businesses can move on to doing business. With the help from the Chief
Justice, we look to have a new commercial court outfitted and ready to open by the
summer of 2025 if not sooner,” said Mr. Pinder.
The Attorney General also noted that as promised the government is working
toward providing a dedicated Sexual Offenses Court outside the main Supreme
Court complex as well as a new Coroner Court.
Mr. Pinder reiterated what he previously said while debating in the senate in 2023
that through the government SPV, Poinciana Holdings, they have acquired the 50
Shirley Street location, where the Registrar General used to be and that they have
taken possession of the Rodney E. Bain Building, now owning the block between
Parliament and Charlotte Street.
He said, “this will be the location of a new, state of the art Supreme Court
Complex. New court infrastructure with a modern approach is desperately needed
for the Judiciary and we are well on our way to making this happen.”
Once complete the complex will house close to 20 new Supreme Courts, complete
with judge’s chambers and support services.
The government recently completed the move of the Registrar General to the
Financial Center across the street from its former Shirley Street location into a
newly renovated, state of the art space.
Mr. Pinder said, “this has not vacated the 50 Shirley Street building. We are in the
final stages or preparing a tender for the demolition of the Rodney Bain building,
which will signify the kickoff of our Supreme Court Complex project.”
He said, preliminary drawings of the complex have been prepared and the
government hopes to be able to go to tender for the construction of the complex in
the first half of 2025.

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Mr. Pinder contended, “Infrastructure is a vital component to ensure the judiciary
can perform its functions effectively and ensure that access to justice is
unimpeded.”
He said the modernization exercise is intended to complement the passage and
implementation of the Court Services Act.
“This legislation established administrative independence for the judiciary. This
was an important shift on the functions of the judiciary to ensure that the day-to-
day functionality had greater efficiency and ability to respond to the daily demands
of operating a cohort of courts effectively,” said Pinder.
He said the government is committed to upgrading and improving the functionality
of the judiciary as it is a vital cog in the administration of justice, and it is the
government’s commitment to ensure the administration of justice is significantly
improved which he said is evident in the Davis administrations’ legislative agenda.