Dáil Éireann Debate, Monday - 11 September 2023
1150. Deputy Bernard J. Durkan asked the Minister for Justice to what extent the rights of children and parents are likely to be protected in any future family law legislation; whether specific commitments are likely to be made in this regard; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38212/23]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, my Department are currently leading an ambitious programme of family justice reform, including the publication of the Family Justice Strategy and the Family Courts Bill 2022. The Strategy puts children at the centre of the system, and emphasises, amongst other things, the need to ensure they are listened to and heard and their views given due regard, in line with constitutional obligations and rights.
The Family Justice Strategy, published in November last year, sets out a vision for a family justice system of the future - a system that will focus on the needs and rights of children and will assist their parents in making decisions that affect all of the family. It aims to achieve this through the implementation of over 50 actions across nine goals. The Strategy is foundational in nature, recognising the many issues that currently exist within the system and outlining the steps needed to move towards a family justice system that is streamlined and user-friendly, and which supports and protects children and their families.
The Strategy contains a number of actions which stress the importance of children and the need to ensure their welfare and best interests are considered in conjunction with their constitutional rights. To that end, my Department has commenced a review to examine the role of expert reports in the family law process, the commissioning and availability of these reports and their content and use. Later in the year, a Working Group will be established to review the effectiveness of the current arrangements for hearing the voice of the child in private family law cases.
Part of the Strategy, and an important element of the family justice reforms, is the Family Courts Bill 2022. The Family Courts Bill will provide for the establishment of a Family Court as divisions within the existing court structures, each dealing with family law matters as appropriate to its jurisdiction.
The Bill provides a set of guiding principles to help ensure that the Family Court system will make the best interests of the child a primary consideration in all family law proceedings, operate in an efficient and user-friendly manner, and encourage active case management by the courts. These guiding principles encourage alternatives to litigation, promote good case management practice, ensuring that proceedings are conducted as far as possible in a user-friendly manner, and minimising the cost of proceedings where feasible.
The Bill provides that specialist knowledge and ongoing professional training in the area of family law will be required to be assigned as a family court judge. It is intended that the Family Court will sit to hear family law proceedings in a different building or room from that in which other court sittings are held or on different days or at different times from other court sittings.
Both the Family Courts Bill and the Family Justice Strategy recognise that children and families should be at the centre of the system. These initiatives mark the beginning of the reform of how our family justice system operates, to try to make it work better for everyone engaging with it, but particularly for those who need additional supports and protections, such as domestic violence victims or vulnerable parents and children.
