Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 March 2022
104. Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor asked the Minister for Justice the progress to date in implementing recommendations of the Report of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice and Equality on Reform of the Family Law System; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [16235/22]
View answerFamily justice is a priority for me as Minister and is a major element of my Justice Plan.
The Report of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice and Equality on Reform of the Family Law System made 38 Recommendations across a range of areas in family justice. Key among these recommendations is the introduction of legislation for the establishment of a dedicated and integrated Family Court within existing court structures.
The Programme for Government contains a commitment to enact a Family Court Bill to create a new dedicated Family Court within the existing court structure and provide for court procedures that support a faster and less adversarial resolution of disputes in specialised centres. In September 2020, Government approved my proposal for the drafting of a Family Court Bill along the lines of the General Scheme, which has been published. Work is ongoing on the drafting of the Bill, with a view to its publication as soon as possible in 2022.
My Department is in the process of finalising a Family Justice Strategy, which will set out a high-level vision and key medium and longer-term objectives for the development of a national family justice system in parallel with the establishment of a dedicated Family Court structure as envisaged by the forthcoming Family Court Bill.
To develop the new strategy, a Family Justice Oversight Group was established by my Department. The Group comprises the key State actors in this space, namely the Department of Justice, Courts Service, Judiciary, Legal Aid Board, the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. To assist its work, this Group has engaged in a phased consultation process where relevant stakeholders, the public, children and young people who engage with the family justice system gave their views on how a modernised family justice system should look. As part of the consultation process, two advisory groups have also been established comprising a subset of (1) NGOs and (2) practitioners and academics to further engage on issues emerging from the initial consultation phases.
A number of issues are being considered for inclusion in the emergent Family Justice Strategy, including: how the courts work; the availability of and access to support services; and the potential use of less adversarial approaches to the resolution of disputes, where possible and appropriate; information dissemination and awareness raising; and oversight of the implementation of any proposed reforms.
Another important area being considered by the Group is additional training for those working within the family justice system that would benefit all those who engage with the system. It is intended that the Family Court Bill will provide that specialist knowledge and ongoing professional training in the area of family law would be required for a judge to be appointed as a Family Court judge.
My Department has also engaged academic experts to conduct research for the purposes of a review of the operation of the provisions of the Guardianship of Infants Act 1964 relating to guardianship of children whose parents are not married or in a civil partnership. I expect that this review will be completed and published later this year.
Among other recommendations made by the Committee was that consideration be given to whether laws should be amended to take into account situations where one parent is wrongfully influencing their child or children against the other parent, thereby creating unfair and unwarranted alienation that can be destructive and life lasting. In that regard and to better inform further discussion on parental alienation, my Department arranged for research to be carried out.
The aims of the research included to:
- Identify the various definitions and characteristics of parental alienation being used internationally.
- Investigate what is known about the prevalence of this issue (in Ireland or internationally) through examination of the literature.
- Identify and outline the various approaches and responses being taken in other jurisdictions to deal with the issue of parental alienation (legislative and otherwise).
- Describe, outline and evaluate any studies which have examined the effectiveness of these various international approaches and assess the relevance of these studies to the Irish context.
I am pleased to say that a draft report was received by my Department at the end of November and is now being reviewed. It is also my intention to commence a public consultation on the topic in the coming weeks. Both the research and consultation will, I expect, create a deeper understanding of the issue, and inform my Department’s consideration of policy and law in this area.
The best interests of the child will of course be paramount in any considerations.
