Marshals must deliver, says PM

Prime Minister?Freundel Stuart says the failure of court marshals to track down and serve documents to people under the Maintenance Act should not be allowed to continue.
Speaking in Parliament last night on the Family Law Amendment Bill, the Prime Minister said the situation in the Magistrates’ Court might have come to the stage where marshals had to be taken out of the picture and applicants allowed to have their documents served by persons of their choice for a small fee.
“I am confident that if that is done, you will get more people before the court more easily than has been the case over the last few years.
“That is a problem that cannot be allowed to continue to fester. It is leading to unendurable frustrations on the part of applicants who turn up to court, only to hear that the defendant has not been served because he cannot be found,” he said.
Stuart said it was remarkable that marshals of the court could have so much difficulty locating persons who needed to be served with documents when “everyone else knows how they can be found”. (MK)