Out of five new bills presented to Parliament on Tuesday, two were passed to prevent domestic violence and protect children in broken homes. The first bill passed was the Domestic Violence Act and the second bill was the Maintenance of Children Act. The remaining three may also be passed by lawmakers in the coming weeks.
The Minister of Health, Cassanni Laville, told lawmakers that the Domestic Violence Act would not only prevent domestic violence in the community, but it will also empower police officers to prevent violence by entering any house without a warrant. “Clause 5 of the Bill provides for an arrest by a police officer without a warrant,” he said.
Laville said police officers will be able to prevent the commission of crimes by entering into houses without warrants if they have reasonable grounds to suspect that violence is about to occur. He said this will prevent the risks of physical and mental injuries as well as potential hospitalization that may result from domestic violence.
For the Maintenance of Children Act, national security minister Rayburn Blackmoore told lawmakers that the lowest amount anyone would be mandated to pay for child support in Dominica is $75 per week. He said that in any case involving child support, the minimum a court would order a parent to pay is $75 weekly and that this amount was not decided upon without wide consultations.
Mr. Speaker, you would know that over the years, more so now, we are seeing the rising inflation and the consequential impact on the cost of living. And when we came to that minimum of $75.00 it wasn’t done arbitrarily. What we did was sent to the Ministry of Social Services, so therefore there was a certain element of scientific data that had to be correlated and assist in arriving at a reasonable minimum.
Hon. Rayburn Blackmoore, National Security Minister
The minister said that in a situation where a judge determines that a parent is not able to pay the minimum $75 weekly child support, the court will consider other factors unique to each case to decide on the way forward. He said the court may consider other sources of income available to an individual before mandating the payment. He stated that it is the duty of the courts to force parents to be responsible for their children, regardless of their family situation.
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