The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has made a number of recommendations to the Oireachtas Justice Committee regarding the new Family Court Bill 2020
The Commission has made a number of recommendations regarding the new Family Court Bill 2020 in a submission entitled ‘Submission on the General Scheme of the Family Court Bill (2020)’ which was addressed to the Oireachtas Justice Committee last month.
The Commission first shed light on the realities of the Irish system on child and family law proceedings at present, noting that the system is “not child, family or disability friendly”. Their research uncovered “chronic delays in court proceedings, repeat adjournments, crowded lists, excessive caseloads, delays in conducting assessments of children and adults, inconsistent approaches to hearing views of the child, adversarial approaches to proceedings, inconsistency in decisions, and a lack of specialist training for judges and legal practitioners.”
The Commission also pointed to the “unsuitability of the physical facilities in a number of courts for children and families” arguing that “inadequate physical conditions and facilities can negatively impact on the conduct of the court proceedings and on both the court officials and the families involved”.
These issues, according to the Commission, are particularly stressful for individuals from diverse ethnic and linguistic backgrounds who “have to represent themselves due to the eligibility thresholds for accessing legal aid and who face difficulty in understanding and navigating the complex process without support services and the provision of accessible information”.
The Commission welcomed the aims of the Family Court Bill 2020 to reform the family justice system so that the courts are more efficient and user-friendly and to put families and children front and centre in the process. It stated that “reform of the family justice system provides an opportunity to place human rights and equality at the centre of the family justice system through the implementation of national and international human rights standards”. In a press release dated 3 August, Chief Commissioner Sinéad Gibney stated that “while we welcome the aim of this Bill... our recommendations show that there is a significant road yet to travel to secure that goal.”
The general scheme of the bill proposes the following major changes:
- The establishment of a District Family Court, a Circuit Family Court, and a Family High Court as divisions within the existing court structures (specialist judges will sit in these courts, which will have their own special rules),
- The creation of regional District and Circuit Family Courts,
- The elimination of the jurisdiction of the High Court to hear judicial separation, divorce, civil partnership, cohabitation, and other family law disputes,
- Increased jurisdiction of the District Court to hear judicial separation, divorce, civil partnership, and cohabitation cases,
- Active case management of cases, and
- Greater emphasis on alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and, in particular, mediation.
Some of the Commission’s recommendations include:
- To determine the bests interests of a child in line with human rights standards,
- To ensure that the right of a child to be heard is adequately protected,
- To strengthen the protection for marginalised groups who are disproportionately represented within child and family law proceedings
- To explicitly recognise the rights of persons with disabilities, including their access to justice and accessibility
- To consult beyond just the judiciary in deciding the geographic districts for the District and Circuit Family Courts. Consultation should include relevant stakeholders, including court users from marginalised groups, namely lone parents, people with disabilities and people from diverse ethnic and linguistic backgrounds.
- To expand the membership of the Family Law Rules Committee to include people with knowledge of human rights and equality; court users, in particular from marginalised and vulnerable communities; representatives of court services and supports; and civil society organisations.
- To Collect and publish disaggregated data about family court proceedings and family court users to see trends in the Family Law Courts.
Click here to read the full proposed general scheme of the Family Court Bill 2020.
Click here to read the recommendations made by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission.
Click here to read the Press Release.