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Family Law reforms.

Revolution rather than Evolution


Changes have come into force to drastically alter the family Justice system, following an independent review in 2011 which highlighted that there was in fact 'no system at all', when family courts deal with over half a million cases each year it was absurd that a clear efficient system was not in place.

Some of the key changes include replacing the old Family court 'system?', with a single family court and introducing new time limits for taking children into care. These and other changes are designed to make the process more efficient and protect any children involved.

The review established that the old system failed children that needed protection, with the justice system taking on average over a year to determine a Childs' future; the new time limit of 26 weeks will improve this but as this is all new we are yet to see how it will work in practice; if a case needs more time this limit can be extended.

Under the old Family Law system parents contested contact and residency of a child, with the objective being the rights of the parent rather than what is best for the child. The new system removes these phrases, the new focus being on the child's needs rather than the parents', with parents attending mediation prior to delivering proposals to Court. Once again as this is all new it will be interesting to see how this is interpreted.

The new changes have been welcomed across the board, with the best interests of children at the centre of all decisions. It is important that the courts do not get caught up in bureaucracy and evaluating unnecessary evidence, and the new laws should put an end to this.

This is an opportunity and the changes have taken a broom to the inherent problems within the family judicial system, let's hope the new ethos and practices are embraced long term.



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