Minister McEntee passes historic legislation to reform the Family Courts system

The Minister for Justice Helen McEntee TD, has today, (Thursday) passed the Family Courts Bill 2022 through both Houses of the Oireachtas.

Once enacted, the legislation will provide for the establishment of family court divisions within the existing court structures, a Family High Court, a Family Circuit Court, and a Family District Court.

Judges who have specialist training or experience in dealing with family law matters will be assigned to the Family Courts divisions on a full-time basis.

Minister McEntee said:

I have prioritised reform of the family justice system since becoming Justice Minister, working to make family justice processes safer, cheaper, more efficient, and less adversarial.

Securing the passage of this historic, reforming legislation is a huge step in reaching this goal and something of which I am immensely proud as this is an important element of my Family Justice Strategy.

For those involved in family law cases in the courts, the current system is far from satisfactory and can, at times, make what is already an incredibly emotionally challenging experience seem even more difficult.

The Family Courts Bill provides for new, dedicated family court structures which will support those who need to reach a resolution to issues such as relationship breakdown, custody and guardianship arrangements, and maintenance payments.

Children will be put front and centre of the newly reformed family justice system. The Bill contains a set of guiding principles for the family court system, making the best interests of the child a primary consideration in the conduct of all family law proceedings, operating in an efficient and user-friendly manner, and encouraging active case management by the courts.

Key reforms contained in the Bill include:

• The establishment of a Family Court as divisions within the existing court structures.

• The assigning of judges on a full-time basis to the Family Court divisions - judges who, by reason of their training or experience, are suitable to deal with matters of family law.

• The creation of new positions of Principal Judge of the Family High Court, Family Circuit Court, and Family District Court to ensure proper and effective management of these Courts.

• A requirement for ongoing professional training in the area of family law for judges.

• Allowing for joint applications to be made for judicial separation, divorce, and dissolution of civil partnership, and supporting mediation and alternative dispute resolution in such cases.

• The setting out of guiding principles for the conduct of family law proceedings, which are directed at ensuring the best interests of the child are a primary consideration, encouraging mediation – where appropriate – and that as far as possible proceedings are accessible and user friendly.

Minister McEntee continued:

Additional wording was also inserted in the Bill’s guiding principles during its passage through the Houses to better protect victims and survivors of domestic violence.

The amendments are aimed at ensuring the safety of parties to proceedings, including when considering whether parties should engage in mediation or other forms of alternative dispute resolution.

New provisions regarding prohibition on personal cross examination have also been inserted in the Family Courts Bill, similar to those in the Domestic Violence Act 2018.

The Bill also provides for a greater proportion of non-contentious family law matters to be dealt with at Family District Court level, in order to provide local access to the court system and to enable family law issues to be resolved in the simplest and most cost-efficient way, reducing the stress faced by litigants in such cases.

Minister McEntee added:

I am determined that the new Family Court structures will work efficiently and effectively and there will be extensive preparatory work, some of which has already begun, in advance of the legislation coming into force in order to ensure this.

The Family Courts Bill is a key component in the ongoing implementation of the Family Justice Strategy, which is driving reforms to create a more efficient and user-friendly family justice system that puts the family and children at the centre of its work. This includes:

• Ensuring the voice of the child is heard in family law proceedings, in line with a child’s constitutional right, and developing new ways to ensure that this right is upheld. This includes an allocation of €3 million to develop a children’s Court Advocate Pilot Project, and a pilot scheme to fund welfare and voice of the child reports;

• Supporting the Judiciary to develop a set of guidelines for the use of welfare reports in family law proceedings;

• Reviewing training options across the family justice sector, identifying gaps and opportunities for new provisions;

• Improving information provisions for all those accessing the system, including children and young people;

• Developing options to provide alternatives to court, including the development of a set of child maintenance guidelines and expansion of the Family Mediation Service through the Legal Aid Board’s private panel of family mediators;

• Commissioning research on the operation of the In Camera rule, a draft of which the Minister expects to receive shortly.

Notes for Editors:

• The passing of the Family Courts Bill is a key component of the first national Family Justice Strategy, which was published in November 2022.

• The Strategy sets out a vision for a family justice system of the future - a system that will focus on the needs and rights of children and which will assist their parents in making decisions that affect all of the family.

• The Family Justice Strategy can be accessed here: Family Justice Strategy 2022 - 2025

• Progress on the various actions contained in the Family Justice Strategy is contained in the Family Justice Strategy Progress Report, which was published on 23rd September and is available at: Progress Report on the Family Justice Strategy 2022 - 2025