KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — The Senate on Friday passed legislation, which will make it mandatory for courts to hand down decisions on matters pertaining to child custody cases within six weeks.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator Kamina Johnson Smith, who piloted the Children (Guardianship and Custody) (Amendment) Act 2016 in the Upper House, said the six-week time frame pertains specifically to cases involving the wrongful removal or retention of children.

She argued that due to the sensitive nature of these cases, it is important that they are dealt with quickly.

“(Given) the …anxiety that occurs when a child is removed from a jurisdiction and there is a situation between families across borders (there is) need to deal with those matters with expedition,” she said. 

Johnson Smith, who is also Leader of Government Business, informed that discussions will be held with the Chief Justice on how these cases can be dealt with expeditiously, before the mandatory six-week timeframe is formally put in place.

This six-week deadline was among amendments recommended when the Bill was passed in the Lower House in December 2016. It was previously approved in the Senate in July last year.

The legislation will now go to the Governor-General to be signed, after which it will be gazetted. 

When passed into law, the Bill will give effect to the Government’s decision to implement the terms of the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and to facilitate Jamaica’s accession to the pact.

The Hague Convention aims to protect children from the harmful effects of abduction and retention across international boundaries by providing a procedure to bring about their prompt return.

As of July 2016, 95 countries were party to the Hague Convention, including The Bahamas, United States of America, Trinidad and Tobago, Canada, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain.