In a far-reaching initiative announced today, the Conservative Shadow Secretary
of State for the Family pledged to end the misery of the family courts.
Unveiling a strategy for radical institutional change, Theresa May said: "We
Conservatives recognise what the experts and common sense have always told us:
that the best parent is both parents. It is time for a family court system that
protects children and respects parents.
Children who go through divorce - 146,914 of them in 2001 - have already lost
out. We must not add to their distress with a court system that means they
forfeit one of their parents as well. Under the next government, there will not
be another generation of parents without children, and children without parents.
Everyone - including the lawyers - accepts the time for change is overdue."
Theresa May underlined that the programme was a practicable reality in advanced
discussion within the legal profession, child development experts and parenting
groups. She said: "Too many families have been torn apart by divorce and
separation. Not just because the adults' relationship has ended, although that
is painful enough. But because the bond between parent and child, or grandparent
and grandchild has been broken. Our Country deserves a better system of family
justice: one that is open, fair and accountable; that protects children and
respects parents; but above all, that recognises that the best parent is both
parents. "
Institutional Change
Under the proposals, CAFCASS, the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support
Service, will be abolished. Theresa May said: "CAFCASS has been a disaster from
Day One. Its officers write tens of thousands of trivial reports each year - on
decent families caught up in divorce. CAFCASS breeds heartache and delay.
CAFCASS clogs up the system. It's the bottleneck in the divorce system wasting
hundreds of millions of pounds a year."
Theresa May underlined her respect for the hard-pressed Guardians ad-Litem
co-opted by Labour into CAFCASS.
"The Guardians in CAFCASS provide an invaluable service to children in real
need. But this part of the service is under-funded. Resources that should go to
cases of real neglect are squandered by CAFCASS on matters which should not be
dealt with by the courts. CAFCASS has got it back-to-front."
Other measures include:
- legislating the presumption of reasonable contact
- adopting the 'good reason' principle
- implementing Section 11 (iv) of the Children Act for co-parenting
- accrediting court-approved mediators and facilitators
A Restructured Court System
For parents who have reached the stage of issuing legal proceedings about
contact, Conservative proposals include:
- clear guidelines prepared by child development experts and stakeholders in
conjunction with the judiciary to outline the range of beneficial
post-separation arrangements
- mandatory mediation before the first hearing conducted in the knowledge of
what the Courts are likely to order
- family courts working to expert guidelines acknowledging that the child's
needs are best served by "frequent and continuous" contact with both parents
- court-backed mechanisms, including mandatory information sessions, to make
these court-backed guidelines available to parents before the hearing
Establishing Clear Expectations
Theresa May said: "Children don't need frequent and continuous litigation. They
need frequent and continuous contact - with both parents. We must end the era
where parents litigate for years just to see their children for two hours a
fortnight. Yes, we need more mediation. But mediation must take place in a clear
context. Parents have to know what the courts are likely to order.
Predictability is so important in the months before a case starts.
We want parents to sort out their differences without resorting to unnecessary
litigation The Courts should be the last, not the first resort"
Conservative proposals mean that most contact disputes should be settled before
the first hearing, as happens abroad. Theresa May explained: "At the moment
there is simply no information available. Separating parents have no way to find
out what to do about their children. No-one tells them what the Courts are going
to order. Then they find that the Government will pay their costs to continue
arguing in court. Labour is fighting fire with petrol."
The Conservative scheme represents a radical departure from recent Government
proposals. Labour's Consultation Paper (Cm6723) pays lip-service to the idea of
guidelines. But the first step remains untaken. Theresa May said, "The
Government has failed to offer families a system that works. You have to start
by bringing the judges, experts and stakeholders on board to agree what sort of
orders the Courts should make. That way, you know what you're trying to deliver.
Then you build a legal system to deliver it. The Government never did its
homework. It forgot the foundations. It's the same old Gerry-building:
'anything goes.'
Theresa May said she could not condone the tactics of pressure groups like
Fathers For Justice, but added, "Let's not forget that there is a legitimate
grievance. Can any parent - hand on heart - imagine anything more terrible than
losing their children? What would you do to see them? We're going to build a
proper system of justice"
"It is not just the parents who have had enough with a third-rate service. It's
the professionals. We found that the lawyers, judges and experts have been
calling for radical change too. Their proposals go into Whitehall in perfect
order; they come back from Margaret Hodge's DfES in tatters - with CAFCASS back
in charge. At the end of the day, the issue is really very simple. What do
children want: one parent or two?"
