The Scottish Parliament Public Petitions committee this morning undertook to write to the Scottish Government for its view on whether it is time to look seriously at a review of Scottish family law. 

The committee had taken evidence on his petition http://tinyurl.com/jkb8227 by Stewart Currie that had called for an independent review on a range of issues where he felt the procedures within family law for agreeing contact/residence arrangements for children when their parents no longer live together are unsatisfactory or contradictory and often work against the stated objective of making the child's interests paramount.

FNF Scotland had written to the committee http://tinyurl.com/je7p2s6   in support of Mr Currie's petition but also drawing to its attention the number of petitions in the same area that had been lodged during the current parliament since the 2011 Holyrood election.

Video http://tinyurl.com/jctuv48 of the committee discussion on the issue can be seen here, beginning at 45'00".

In the discussion after Mr Currie's evidence committee member, Hanzala Malik, said, "Children shouldn't have to suffer the indignity of being separated from one parent or another unless things are proven in court. Accusations come fast and furious - quite outrageous accusations. I agree with the petitioner and petitioners who have come to us. And if the petitioners are happy we can perhaps put them all together so we can ask the government to look at this more seriously."

Committee convener, Michael McMahon, said, "We do have to look at all these in the round ... We are building up a picture here of areas in which we would like to see the government answering in terms of family law."

Kenny MacAskill, former Justice Secretary, agreed. He said, "I do think we are at a juncture where we've moved on considerably from previous investigations both in parliament and in legislative change. We now have a change to the court system. We have changes to appointments and specialisations on the shrieval bench. We have pressure upon the legal aid board. ... I do think we're at a juncture where the government should be seeking to bring it all together rather than looking at any one bit individually. This is the time. The government should be asked to bring the current changes together and consider where we go."

FNF Scotland national manager, Ian Maxwell, said, "This is a very encouraging development. In our response to the committee on Mr Currie's petition we set out our view that Scotland's children and families will benefit from a broader change in prevailing culture that looks for the positives in parenting after separation. This is far better for children than the current adversarial approach by which one parent's time with his/her children is “won” at the expense of inflicting damage on the other.

It is a tribute to the perserverance of all the petitioners in recent years that the message is getting home that the law has been overtaken by social and economic changes within families in Scotland and by government policy which now recognises more clearly the obligations of both parents to promote the wellbeing of their children and also their children's right to family life."