Family law considered at Parliament committee

Ian Maxwell from Shared Parenting Scotland will call for a radical overhaul of Scottish family courts at a round-table session with the Scottish Parliament Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee.

The session on Tuesday 22nd February from 10am will look at issues and challenges faced by policymakers and courts when approaching disputes between parents.  It will consider what lessons can be learned from experiences of family cases prior to and throughout the pandemic.

We acknowledge to the committee the efforts so many within the system made to get back to something like normal as soon as possible.  COVID highlighted to us just how unsatisfactory “normal” is in Scotland. It is slow, unpredictable, inconsistent between courts and shockingly expensive and damaging to important relationships.

Our submission to the committee is based on the principle that parents should receive far more expert support after separation to avoid disputes escalating into court action. The sheriff court is the last place you want to be when you are in dispute about arrangements for children.

Shared Parenting Scotland is calling for more Scottish Legal Aid Board money to be spent on creative dispute resolution, not aggressive court action.  If the dispute does end up in court we suggest that a problem-solving approach should be adopted to limit the collateral damage on children and parents.

Courts should follow Article 9 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and ensure that children are not separated from either of their parents unless competent authorities determine that such separation is in the best interests of the child.

At the start of the Covid pandemic family cases were triaged immediately on submission to court.   We will suggest that this process should resume.  Court cases where contact has been interrupted should be considered immediately by an experienced family sheriff rather than waiting for up to two months for the first hearing.  This should  become a standard case-management procedure across Scotland.

This immediate action could ensure that children are not prevented from seeing one of their separated parents for many months.  If any concerns are raised about this contact it can be supervised in a contact centre until a more detailed report is obtained.

Adopting this simple change could save time and money in court and also result in quicker interventions when required.  This therapeutic jurisprudence approach is already being used in courts across the world.

As the Belgian Justice Minister noted recently: “[Judges] have to empower the parties involved to make commitments to each other and respect them throughout the proceedings. Moving forward step by step with frequent hearings to check on the progress being made.  They are supported by a team of interdisciplinary experts and extrajudicial actors who are crucial to gathering the necessary objective information to allow the judge to make an informed decision.”

Perhaps paradoxically, the Covid time has revealed what a blunt instrument our system is. The will to try something new during the restrictions should be continued.

The committee round table discussion also includes representatives of the Law Society, Faculty of Advocates, Family Law Association, Children and Young People’s Commissioner, Scottish Women’s Aid and Relationships Scotland.

It will be viewable on Scottish Parliament TV.

Briefing to committee before Round Table meeting

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