Guyanese among nominees to sit on Hague’s network of judges

As Guyana moves to become a member of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, acting Chief Justice Yonette Cummings – Edwards and Justice Roxanne George were nominated on Wednesday evening by Attorney General Basil Williams to sit as the Guyanese representatives on the international network of judges. Guyanese judges stand to benefit from an extensive network as part of the Hague Network of Judges, but more effort is needed for the establishment of a regional network.
Hague Network Judge and High Court Judge of Trinidad and Tobago, Allyson Ramkerrysingh explained to the Government Information

Agency (GINA) on Wednesday, that the role of the network of judges provides easy access to facilitate interaction between territories which have signed onto The Hague’s conventions on child abduction and among others.
Guyana is hosting the regional Hague conference for the Hague Conference on Private International Law under the theme “International Family Law, Legal Cooperation and Commerce: Promoting Human Rights and Cross-border trade in the Caribbean through the Hague Conference Conventions. The conference is being held at the Pegasus Hotel, Georgetown from July 13 to 15.
President David Granger has expressed Guyana’s interest in signing on to the Hague conventions fully. The benefits becoming part of the Hague Network of Judges will enable Guyana to have direct access to the international network and auxiliary services with other territories, especially in terms of abduction, adoption, and maintenance
Justice Ramkerrysingh in explaining how the network functions, said, “It is basically a liaison function whereby if an application is brought before a particular judge in a territory, for instance, the left behind parent can access that foreign territory through the network of judges who are each representing one of the participating territories.”
This means that the judge adjudicating the case can freely access his/her counterpart from the territory where the parent now resides, to determine how “to effectively ensure” that the order of the court is upheld.
Trinidad and Tobago is the only regional country that is part of The Hague Network of Judges. Creating a regional network will create rapport and reciprocity between judicial systems across the Region. However, Ramkerrysingh said that setting up a regional network goes beyond judicial and legal practitioners. “It does take some political effort as well.”
Ramkerrysingh will be making a presentation on direct judicial communication that can be facilitated from the International Hague Network of Judges during the conference.
The focus of her presentation will be on the movement of people. She added that she would like the other participating Caribbean territories to sign on and enact the Hague conventions following the conference, “particularly with respect to the protection of children and to enhancing the rights of the children across borders, both territorially, as well as internationally,” Ramkerrysingh said.