I raise this matter as it would be wrong if the House did not recognise this landmark day in terms of social policy and welcome the coming into force of the divorce legislation. For the thousands of casualties of broken marriages this is a particularly important day as it extends to many the possibility and hope of legalising second relationships and to others recognition by the law that their marriages are at an end.
It is approximately 25 years since I first called for the introduction of constitutional changes to allow for divorce. I am very pleased to see the fruits of the referendum held in November 1995 coming into operation. The Government deserves to be congratulated for bringing us to this point. I would not like any of my remarks to take away from the congratulations it deserves for finally addressing this long outstanding social issue.
I want to begin by making a declaration of interest, although my not doing so may not give rise to a difficulty. It is no secret that I still wear my solicitor's hat outside the House and do a considerable amount of work in the family law area. I make this point lest anyone accuses me of having a vested interest in the issue.
As a practising lawyer who for many years has represented many people suffering the trauma of broken marriages, I am very anxious to ensure that people seeking divorce incur the minimum legal expense possible in resolving what for many is the final outstanding issue arising out of a broken marriage. Many people have long since sorted out the consequences of the breakdown of their marriage and there will be no disputes about property, finance and how their children should be cared for. In such cases the level of legal costs should be kept to a minimum.
I am concerned that the recently published rules of the Circuit Court will unnecessarily add to the complexity of divorce proceedings and increase legal costs. I want to make it clear that the rules have been put together by a committee and the Minister for Justice is not in any way at fault for this problem. The rules and documents prescribed for the processing of divorce proceedings are ideal in cases where couples contest financial issues or where there are disputes about children. The forms required will ensure that the maximum information is exchanged before any contentious issues have to be addressed by the courts.
My concern relates to the thousands of cases where there are no contentious issues as the husbands and wives have sorted out their problems and many of them are in second relationships. The documentation requiring elaborate background information will impose a burden on those people by asking them to reveal and detail information in which neither of them is interested. Such couples do not want to know the financial position of the other spouse and do not want to have to incur extra costs by requiring their solicitors to complete the drafts of complex documents which they must ultimately swear as affidavits. In cases where divorces are not contested, where couples have been living apart for many years and where neither wishes to raise financial issues of contention there should be a simpler documentary format for processing divorce proceedings. I ask the Minister to request the Circuit Court rules committee to reconsider this matter.
There is little doubt that the number of divorce cases will increase during 1997. If we do not put in place by 1998 new court structures and implement the recommendations of the Law Reform Commission on the reform of courts and the manner in which they deal with family cases the courts could face gridlock in terms of dealing with divorce cases and granting divorce decrees within a reasonable period of time.
Consideration must be given to the urgent implementation of the recommendations of the Law Reform Commission and, in so doing, to give courts dealing with divorce cases and other family problems the necessary back-up welfare services which are badly required and which are recommended by the Law Reform Commission. Such services are of particular importance in cases involving allegations of domestic violence or disputes about the custody and well-being of children.