Family Court in Hamilton yesterday.

The courtroom inside the Government Administration Building was packed and at least 40 people spilled out into the lobby as they waited to have cases heard before acting Family Court Judge the Wor. Mr. Arthur Hodgson.

By noon many of them had been waiting since 9 a.m. without being heard. And because of the overcrowding the proceedings may soon be held twice a month instead of once of a month as is the case now.

Health and Social Services Minister the Hon. Quinton Edness said: "I will be speaking to the administration and maybe we can possibly have these proceedings twice a month instead of once in order to avoid this problem in the future.'' The Minister added: "This kind of congestion only seems to happen on days when there are a substantial amount of children to be served.'' However lawyer and PLP leader Mr. Frederick Wade who was at the courthouse yesterday, said: "I find it reprehensible that people are being treated like cattle,'' adding that the monthly proceedings were always the same.

"The system is disorganised and chaotic, designed to produce confusion,'' he said.

Overcrowding at Family Court Another lawyer, Ms Victoria Pearman, said: "I have been to juvenile court three times in the past with matters listed for 10 a.m. and have not gotten in until after 12 p.m.'' One mother, who did not want to be identified, expressed concern about the lack of privacy. "We are being treated like trash.'' she said. "People walking by know why we are here -- there is nothing private about this.'' This is not the first time concerns have been raised. In February, angry parents and citizens spoke to The Royal Gazette in the hope that Government would correct the situation.

Family Court, which used to be held at the Wesley Methodist Church Hall and the boardroom of the Department of Youth and Sport, was moved to the ground floor of the GAB in February.

Many people attending the hearings felt their private business is on display because of the extremely open location of the court.

Mr. Wade, who had been waiting for 40 minutes, said that Family Court should meet more frequently. As leader of the PLP, he said: "I have made numerous complaints about this matter. Since I've been here a few other lawyers have come and gone in disgust.'' Since many of the children that attend the hearings do so for behavioural problems instead of criminal ones, the lack of space and privacy is disturbing to both the parents and lawyers that accompany them.

For lawyers like Ms Keren Lomas and Mr. Richard Hector, the concern is not just the location and the waiting, but the children themselves.

"My immediate reaction to the problem is that society is dumping the responsibility of righting what's wrong with the world on the children,'' Ms Lomas said.

"It's obvious from the attendance of so many youngsters, that in today's society parents are not taking responsibility for their children.'' Ms Lomas believes the facilities at the Government Administration Building are inadequate and that Government itself has done nothing to clear the backlog of cases that are constantly being processed.

Mr. Hector, one of the lawyers who left in disgust, said he was, "quite amazed at the extreme overcrowding at the facility and the inadequate and unsuitable climate the children are being exposed to''.

"If this is an example of how we fulfil the nature of a Family Court it is totally unsuitable,'' he said.

"Our intention should be to introduce our young people to court in a gentle way -- not in a manner designed to put them on display such as this.'' One father at the court said: "It's like a zoo down here. What I find amazing is the amount the kids here -- and it seems that half of them do not seem to care at all. Also I see very few fathers here with their kids. It seems everything is left up to the mothers. No wonder we have problems with these kids today.''