Family law and the lockdown
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Sir, – All non-urgent family law cases in the Circuit and High Courts have been postponed until Level 5 restrictions are lifted. Access is strictly limited to ” urgent” cases.
I understand that the Courts Services and the judiciary implemented these restrictions with the intention of limiting footfall during this time.
However, this is causing harm to many parties and their children who have cases pending in the Circuit or High Courts. Many family law matters require orders from the court that may not be caught by the “urgency” clause (which most likely refers to domestic abuse) but are of essential court business nonetheless. As all family law cases are held in camera, only a handful of people are present: the parties, their legal team (barrister, solicitor), the judge and court registrar, and perhaps the judge’s assistant. By strict adherence to social distancing within the courtroom and mask protection, surely these cases can and should proceed?
Without doubt this is a valid and justifiable reason to relax the five-kilometre travel restriction in this instance.
If not, can technological safeguards be introduced to allow cases proceed by video-conference or other links?
The courts need to find a way to move cases forward, afford litigants access to justice as a matter of urgency and avoid further inevitable delays due to heavy backlogs. The maxim “Delay defeats equity” is ringing in my ears! – Yours, etc,
CRIONNA CREAGH,
Ballsbridge,
Dublin 4.
Become the new General Editor of The Family Court Practice, the definitive word on family law and procedure
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The General Editor is responsible for:
Advising upon the content and development of the Practice.
Allocating responsibility for material among the contributors.
Liaising with the contributors in order to ensure the submission of all contributions in accordance with the agreed timetable.
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We are looking for the following skills and attributes in the successful applicant:
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To apply, please forward your CV and a covering letter by email to: greg.woodgate@lexisnexis.co.uk by 31 March 2021.
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New family law seeks to make custody fairer
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[InTime News]
New legislation seeking to right many wrongs in the obsolete framework of Greek family law, particularly with regard to the custody of children in the event of separation, will be presented to cabinet by Justice Minister Konstantinos Tsiaras before heading to MPs for approval.
If ratified, the legislation gives both parties in a divorce a more equal share of the time they spend with their children but also in the responsibilities of looking after their well-being. For example, it introduces, for the first time, a provision giving greater visitation rights to the non-custodial parent in a separation, allocating him or her one-third of all available time.
Life-altering decisions concerning the child, such as medical matters, choice of school or even choice of name are also going to be more evenly shared between separated parents.
The aim of the legislation is to bolster both parents’ contribution to the child’s upbringing, as well as to reduce the areas than can cause friction between separated partners, often to the detriment of the child. It also seeks to discourage abuses of custodial rights by punishing efforts by one parent to alienate a child from the other.