JUDICIARY CONDUCTS A SPECIAL TRAINING FOR CHILD AND FAMILY JUSTICE

The Judiciary Training Committee in conjunction with the High Court – Family and Probate Division, the Child Justice Directorate(CJD)/National Child Justice Forum (NCJF) Secretariat, Save the Children International and Irish Rule of Law International recently conducted a special training for magistrates, probation and social welfare officers, police officers, paralegal officers and program officers from institutions implementing child justice intervention from 10 districts from the 4th to the 6th of March, 2026 at the Moroccan Embassy in Lilongwe.

The training was necessitated by the observations regarding gaps in knowledge, practice and coordination among key role players which was done through review of case decisions by the Family and Probate Division, a Capacity Gap Assessment (CGA) conducted by the National Child Justice Forum (NCJF) stakeholders under the Save the Children funded TiKuMa Project in Balaka and Mchinji, and continued monitoring of the daily trends in practice and procedures.

The training which focused on the Child Care, Protection and Justice Acts (CCPJA), The Marriage, Divorce and Family Relations Act (MDFRA) and Prevention of Domestic Violence Act (PDVA) as core statutes governing the protection of children and families in the face of violence, also covered key aspects that are deficient in application of principles and guidelines which are around the following areas: application of the principle of the best interest of the child; human rights responsive adjudication; trauma informed case handling; checklists guiding development of records for courts dealing with children and women (requirements for court orders, requirement for social inquiry reports, and other key records); and community collaboration and involvement in the delivery of services towards children and families.

Participants in the training were drawn from Balaka, Blantyre, Dowa, Mangochi, Mchinji, Mulanje, Mzimba, Salima, Thyolo and Lilongwe and also included officers from institutions such as the Ministry of Gender, Children, Disability and Social Welfare, Save the Children International, Irish Rule of Law International, Paralegal Advisory Services Institute (PASI), Girls Empowerment Network (GENET), Malawi Girl Guides Association (MALGA), and Parents of Disabled Children’s Association of Malawi (PODCAM).

Facilitation for the training was conducted by Justices from the High Court – Family and Probate Division as follows: Hon. Justice Fiona Mwale (Judge President and Chairperson of the Child Justice Directorate and National Child Justice Forum), Hon. Justice Zione Ntaba, Hon. Justice Jean Kayira, and Hon. Justice Madalitso Chimwaza; and Mr. Chifundo Ben Mbvundula, Principal Child Justice Officer and National Coordinator of the Child Justice Directorate (CJD)/NCJF Secretariat.

There were also international practitioners from child justice and family law firms in the USA and UK as follows: Dr. Robert Simon, a United States-based Licensed Psychologist, an internationally recognised leader in Forensic Psychologist Consulting with over 40 years of experience in the legal domain of family law and domestic relations and consults on complex parenting and child custody cases and is an active teacher and lecturer on an international level; Amy Burrow, a Partner at Lowry Legal in London, England and a specialist in international family law with a distinguished practice acting in complex, high-net-worth matrimonial matters, often involving extensive global assets, cross-border structures, and multi-jurisdictional issues, and also has a particular interest in cases involving Economic Abuse and Litigation Funding Orders; and Hilka Hollmann, a Partner in the children department at Dawson Cornwell LLP, a specialist family law firm, renowned for its international work and also specialises and exclusively practices in children law at an international level, including adoptions, relocations, and care proceedings where social services have concerns about a child’s welfare and safeguarding.

The institution intends to conduct further training for the remaining districts in the months ahead.