By Robert Hart, Staff ReporterTHE ABSENCE of several committee members prevented the Joint Select Committee on the Family Property (Rights of Spouses) Act from coming to a decision on a clause previously planned for referral to the Houses of Parliament.
During yesterday's meeting, attended by only three of 13 members, chairman Senator A.J. Nicholson asked if the committee was willing to change its position so that Parliament would not have to decide on the clause without the benefit of a committee recommendation.
The issue of contention dealt with whether clause 7(b) of the Act should be deleted from the Bill altogether. The clause states that the court may determine whether it is unreasonable or unjust for each spouse (including members of a common-law union of over five years) to have claim to one-half the family residence when the home was a gift from a third person to one spouse.
The court would, as a result, determine how the entitlement should be divided.
During yesterday's deliberations, the committee determined that it could possibly come to its own decision on the matter at hand. But when Senator Nicholson asked if the committee was willing to settle on sending a recommendation on the clause to Parliament, Dr. St. Aubyn Bartlett, Opposition Member of Parliament, stymied the move.
"My colleague and myself think that maybe we should differ this matter until the full committee meets so we can have a more fulsome discussion," he said.
The only other member of the committee present was Dr. Charles Learmond, Government MP.
A FEW APOLOGIES
At the start of the proceedings, only a few apologies for absences were recorded. Among those were apologies from Government Senators Burchell Whiteman, who informed the committee that he would be either absent or late, and Navel Clarke; and Opposition MPs Olivia 'Babsy' Grange and Clive Mullings.
It was suggested that members from the Opposition side may have been absent as a result of commitments associated with the upcoming Jamaica Labour Party Annual Conference scheduled for this weekend.
The other committee members from the Government side are MPs Dr. Donald Rhodd, Derrick Kellier and John Junor, as well as Senator Norman Grant. From Opposition side are Senators Dwight Nelson and Norman Horne.
