The Family Court…the final verdict!

Yesterday Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa officially inaugurated the Family Courts Complex and I believe it truly is Bahrain’s achievement of the 21st century, at least for its first three decades because we always look forward to achievements on the national level that improve everything that we as a nation have.

I believe there is nothing as significant as family stability for the overall growth of any nation. Without producing individuals that are capable of becoming good citizens, no nation can move forward. This, of course, necessitated issuing the unified family law as I personally believe that the law assures the protection of everyone’s rights and not just women.

It protects all members of the family. And to allocate the Family Court in Hanieniya to address family issues is sincerely a step in the right direction. There is now a court that just addresses family issues away from other courts that address cases that are not family oriented, thus assuring the privacy of the issues and cases that will be raised.

What impressed me most was the green room we walked in as we toured with Her Royal Highness Princess Sabeeka yesterday the complex. I liked the green room and the reason is quite simple. This is an area specially allocated for children to play in. Cheerful, relaxing and the court now provides an atmosphere for children that accompany their parents who are either presenting complaints or have a court case.

We all know that the biggest victims of family issues are children. After all, parents are adults and the decisions and choices they make are what their children should live with. I do sympathize with broken marriages and husbands and wives all go through the hardest times that may end in divorce or separation but sympathy mostly goes to children who may be witnessing violence at home, physical or emotional.

But what needs to be addressed today is the fact that children of many divorced couples end up growing in better homes and environments and unlike how in the past many people believed that children of divorced parents are damaged, Today we see examples of many children who grow up perfectly among divorced parents. This, of course, can only be achieved by a fair justice system, where everyone’s rights are reserved. Being just to women does not mean being unjust to men. Justice is for all.

Another impressive figure that drew my attention was the fact that there has been a drop of six percent in the rate of divorce in Bahrain, a reflection of how when reconciliation departments work effectively, they are capable of preserving many marriages.

The Supreme Council of Women has for years exerted utmost effort in issuing a unified family law to protect the rights of women and this law certainly helps build a better society. What cannot be understood up to this day is how some Shia religious figures opposed to this law that basically aims at protecting everyone’s rights.

Joint efforts by everyone involved is essential to obtain our main objective. Preserving Bahraini families and protecting everyone’s rights.

What was inaugurated yesterday was surely a cornerstone in Bahrain’s history. We can no way move forward if we do not preserve family rights. Bringing up a healthy generation does not mean a physically healthy one, but a generation that is mentally and emotionally healthy and without family laws and courts that preserve everyone’s rights, we will not have healthy productive citizens.

Without settling family disputes, we would never have a healthy environment where both men and women are productive and capable of bringing up a generation that is constructive and not destructive.

The final verdict will only be issued at the Family Court and the verdicts will be the most important ones for our families…. Our future!