09 Nov 2020

Special courts dedicated to gender based violence (GBV) cases have been set up in all chief magistrate stations, Chief Justice Terence Rannowane has announced.
“All GBV cases shall be treated as urgent applications and be given expedited management, set down and disposal.  

Such cases shall be prioritised and removed from the normal track of other cases upon registration,” states a practice directive from the chief justice’s office.

This directive will effect from December 1.

Instructions are on protection of women, children and other vulnerable groups on GBV and related cases.

The practice directive states that chief justice’s office has observed that GBV cases, encompassing intimate partner violence in the form of physical/sexual assault, sexual abuse of minor children and embeciles, increased at an alarming rate since start of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant extreme social distancing measure. ENDS