MoJ: the maintenance of family relationships must be enshrined in law
The importance of children maintaining relationships with both parents following a break-up is to be enshrined in law, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has confirmed.
In its response to the recommendations of David Norgrove’s Family Justice Review, the MoJ says it plans to restore public confidence that the courts recognise both parents’ roles.
It will bring forward legislation emphasising the importance of children maintaining parental relationships where that is safe and in the interests of the child. Any legislation will recognise that this does not imply an equal division of access.
Jane Craig, head of family law at Manches, warns: “Providing a formal legal right to shared parenting time is unnecessary and fraught with difficulty—as Norgrove recognised.
“The experience in Australia is that it leads to far more litigation between parents.”
Liz Edwards, vice-chairwoman of Resolution, says: “As the government has recognised, the experience of other countries has shown that guaranteeing ‘shared parenting’ in law places the demands of adults over the needs of children, and we will be engaging with the ministerial working group to ensure that any legislative statement on this issue continues to safeguard children’s welfare.”
Outlining its plans last week, the MoJ said it will require separating couples to attend a mediation session before they can take their case to court, encourage parenting agreements to include grandparents, and set a six-month time limit on care and adoption cases.
Currently, the 20,000 children caught up in care proceedings each year wait an average of 55 weeks before their future is decided.
The MoJ also plans to reduce the use of expert reports in family cases, reduce the amount of time judges spend scrutinising care plans, transfer the court social work agency Cafcass to the MoJ, and simplify the family justice system by creating a single family court across England and Wales.
Law Society chief executive Desmond Hudson called on the MoJ to commit sufficient resources to the reforms and warned the legal aid cuts were brewing “a perfect storm”.
He added: “Delays in care cases amount to a national disgrace—children most in need of society’s care are being failed. The recommendations in the Norgrove review could contribute significantly to reducing these delays.”
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