Families, Fathers and Friends launch Charter of Family Law

 

PRESS CONFERENCE & PHOTOCALL

 

Families, Fathers and Friends launch

‘Charter for Family Law’

 

12 noon, Tues 16 November 2010

Merrion Hotel, Dublin 2

 

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What: Families, Fathers and Friends, a charity that provides support for parents who experience family breakdown will launch a ‘Charter for Family Law’ next Tuesday 16 November.  The Charter sets out a range of changes needed under family law to ensure equality and access to children, particularly for single fathers. This Christmas, many fathers will be denied access to their children. Minister of State for Equality Mary White will attend the launch

 

 

Where: 12 noon, Merrion Hotel, Dublin 2

             

[ENDS]  

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16 November 2010

 

Make fathers automatic guardians from birth

 

Charity calls for compulsory registration of fathers on birth certificates

A charity that provides support for parents who experience family breakdown has called for fathers to be made automatic guardians from birth and for compulsory registration of their name on birth certificates. Families, Fathers and Friends today launched its ‘Charter for Family Law’ and said many fathers would not have access to their children this Christmas, due to failures in Irish law.

Sam Butt, Lead Counsellor at the Charity said: “Christmas can be a particularly sad time for families who are separated. Every year we see hundreds of fathers who will not have access to their children over the holiday period. It is also the worst time for fathers who are routinely denied access to their children even where there are court orders in place. Irish Family Law has not caught up with the needs of the modern family. Our Charter sets out areas where the law can be changed to ensure protection for fathers and their families.”

Among the proposed changes, Families, Fathers and Friends have called for:

•  Fathers to have automatic guardianship of their child from the birth of the child
• The enactment of fathers’ rights to be enshrined in the Constitution 
• The Registration of fathers’ names on the birth certificates of their child 
• Transparency of family court proceedings through relaxation of In Camera rule 
• Recognition of pre-nuptial agreements  

“The stark reality is that fathers, married or unmarried, have no rights under the Constitution or in legislation. Such rights can only be acquired through the consent of the mother or marriage to the mother of their children,” said Sam Butt. “Recognition of fathers’ rights is not the only neglected aspect of family law. The system in itself is outdated, dysfunctional and fails in the services it was set up to provide.”

 

The Law Reform Commission published its consultation paper in September 2009 and a Report on the Legal Aspects of Family Relationships is expected in the coming months.

 

Minister of State for Integration, Equality and Human Rights Mary White attended the launch and said: “I want to pay tribute today to the work done by Families, Fathers and Friends for fathers throughout the country who are seeking to participate fully in the lives of their children. The charity has highlighted many important issues of family law which need to be addressed, and which the Government is committed to reviewing. Today’s press conference is an important opportunity for these issues to be highlighted in advance of the Law Reform Commission’s report. In its work programme for 2008-2014 the Commission stated that one of the indicators of the success of its work is raising community awareness of a particular issue. Its consultation paper, published last year, and events like today have helped raise awareness. As Minister for Equality I look forward to working with the Minister for Justice on this area when the report is published.”

 

[ENDS]

 

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Families, Fathers and Friends

'Charter of Family Law'

Families Fathers and Friends call on the following to be brought into law as soon as possible to end the bias, inequality, discrepancy and emotional pain of family law litigants.

The Charity calls for:

1.       Implement the recommendations in the Law Reform Commission’s Consultation paper on Family Law in full

In 2007 Families, Fathers and Friends made written and oral submissions to the Third Programme of Law Reform and were accepted in their entirety by the Law Reform Commission. The first consultation Paper published as a result of these submissions was published in September 2009 and a report endorsing those recommendations is expected early in the New Year. The Charity wishes to see all of the Commission’s provisional recommendations enacted in Law.

2.       The enactment of fathers’ rights in legislation and enshrined in the Constitution

At present fathers, married and unmarried have no rights in respect of their children either in the Constitution or in legislation. These rights can be acquired through the consent of the mother or through marriage to the mother of their children. Express recognition of both fathers’ and mothers’ rights in the Constitution would bring greater equality to family dispute resolution and greater security for children’s wellbeing when parents separate.

3.       Fathers to have automatic guardianship of their child from the birth of the child

The Law Reform Commission provisionally recommended that the terms Guardianship, Custody and Access be updated and renamed Parental Responsibility, Day-to-Day Care and Contact and each one would be defined in Statute. Families, Fathers and Friends support these recommendations and call for them to be brought into law, thereby defining their meaning and scope and simplifying the law. The charity also supports the recommendation that all fathers are automatic guardians with the proviso that such guardianship can be suspended or removed where the father is found to be unfit as a guardian of a child.

4.       The Registration of fathers’ names on the birth certificates of their child

Under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the child has a right to be heard, to have contact with both its parents and to know who its parents are. The Charity calls for fathers’ names to be included on birth certificates so that the child’s medical ancestry can be traced for the benefit of the child and that the child may ascertain who its father is, if not present in the child’s life.

5.       Court orders to be enforced with rigour and no undue delay

Court orders, especially access orders are breached on a regular basis and fathers find it frustratingly difficult to have such orders enforced. Breaches of access orders and other court orders are often linked to domestic violence, sexual abuse, sexual and emotional abuse of children and also psychological and emotional abuse. Judges, barristers, solicitors, An Garda Síochána, social workers, the State and other ancillary service providers need to be educated and trained in dealing without prejudice in such instances as perpetrated or alleged by one partner against the other, without discrimination.

6.       Perpetrators of false allegations need to be held accountable

Increasingly false accusations against separated fathers seeking access to their children are being made to create alienation between the father and child. These accusations sometimes consist of allegations of sexual and physical abuse against their former partners or their children without onus on proof. Such false allegations destroy lives and lead to severe emotional and psychological damage.

7.       Pre-nuptial agreements to be recognised in Law

Currently pre-nuptial agreements are not recognised in Irish Law. Families, Fathers and Friends call for such agreements to be recognised and enforceable thus giving certainty to this area of law with the proviso that such agreements will not be enforceable if they are grossly unfair or where undue influence is found to have been exercised.

8.       Relaxation of 'In Camera' for transparency of family court practices and proceedings

While it is recognised that the nature of family law is intimate and disclosure may lead to distress, current family law practices leave the system open to abuse of trust and unaccountability. This situation requires immediate remedy through provision of mandatory written judgments, court hearing transcripts and audio recordings. All family law issues should seek resolution in one sitting and a full hearing.

9.       Family law to be directive

 

Due to the closed determination of family cases and the broad and unprincipled nature of Family Law there is a wide discretion permitted and practiced leading to injustice, perceived and actual bias and wide discrepancies as between cases of like circumstances. This should be curtailed by directive family law which narrows the scope of discretion while at the same time accounting for the individual circumstances in each case.

 

10.    Family law to be dealt with in dedicated family law courts

Family law needs dedicated courts to meet the delicate nature of family disputes. Each parent should be treated equally and with respect. Equally all personnel working within and associated with dedicated family law courts should have relevant education and training for the provision of a competent and quality service. Twenty-nine years ago the Law Reform Commission recommended the setting up of dedicated family law courts.