This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Family law proposals
05/04/2004
New legal safeguards to prevent children being used as
'pawns' when relationships break down have been unveiled
today.
Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson set out a new national
strategy designed to support stable family life based
around:
- little or no state interference in families that
are strong and working well;
- more practical help and support when families hit
problems;
- and a radical overhaul of legal safeguards when
relationships have broken down
A new consultation document Family Matters: Improving
Family Law in Scotland published today contains firm
proposals to:
- Reduce the minimum period over which couples must
live apart before a divorce is granted - reducing
acrimony in divorce and allowing parents and children
to move on;
- Give parental rights and responsibilities to
unmarried fathers who register the birth of their child
alongside the mother
In addition, Ministers are seeking views on how best to
provide:
- Legal safeguards for cohabiting couples that
address their current legal vulnerability;
- A recognised role for step-parents in
parenting;
- Better arrangements for grandparents who do not
play as great a part in their grandchildren's lives as
they would like to
Ms Jamieson also announced an immediate cash injection
of £250,000 for Scotland's existing family support
organisations, and promised to look at how this this
network can be strengthened further for families facing
relationship difficulties.
She said:
"Family life should wherever possible be an issue for
families themselves. Government and other agencies should
not intrude when things are going well. Where we can help
is in providing the right kind of support when families hit
a rocky patch. And we have a role in providing a sensible
framework of legal safeguards when, sadly, family
relationships break down.
"This legal framework exists already in Scotland - but
there is widespread consensus that it no longer provides
the safety net of legal safeguards for the way Scotland's
people now live their lives.
"Some will see any change to the law in this area as a
'defeat' for traditional values. They should not - for the
reforms published today are based around a principle that
is central to everything we stand for as a country and as a
society - the best interests of children. That must be the
pillar around which we build strong family law in
Scotland.
"I want to see stability in families. Where families face
difficulties I want to see those difficulties resolved at
an early stage. I want families to see that they have
places other than the courts to turn to when they encounter
difficulties. That is why I am looking at creating a
network of family contact centres across Scotland - 'safe
havens' for families whose relationships have broken down
to come together. There is a need for a better
co-ordinated system of counselling and mediation, backed by
increased Executive investment.
"But where a relationship goes beyond the point of no
return, or when a parent dies or is seriously injured, I
want to see legal safeguards in place to protect all
parties. Quite simply, we do not have that at the moment -
and that leaves children at potential risk. At a time when
in so many other areas of our society we are working to
improve child protection, it is simply untenable that civil
family law does not play its part.
"I want to see the law protect the vulnerable. I want
the law to recognise that children are better protected
when the adults around them have greater rights and
responsibilities for them. And I want the law to recognise
that, when relationships break down, the law should help
rather than hinder."
There have been a number of reports on areas of Family
Law in recent years, including a consultation paper -
Improving Family Law - published by the Scottish Office in
1999. This was followed by a Scottish Executive White
Paper in 2000, Parents and Children. Family Matters:
Improving Family Law in Scotland is available, along with
these earlier publications, at
www.scotland.gov.uk/familylaw
Responses to previous consultations mean that today's
paper contains firm proposals on: extending Parental Rights
and Responsibilities (PRRs) for Unmarried Fathers; reducing
the non-cohabitation periods required for divorce from five
years to two years where there is no consent, and from two
years to one with consent; and updating the law on
matrimonial interdicts and exclusion orders. However a
settled view does not yet exist on: legal protection for
cohabitants; Step-Parent Parental Responsibility and Rights
Agreement; contact between children and wider family.
The Executive currently invests over £610,000 annually -
through the Children, Young People and Families Unified
Voluntary Sector Fund - in the four national family
bodies. In addition the ten local mediation services
receive over £627,000. Ministers believe that creating a
more tightly focused national support network will lead to
improved services for families facing difficulties - recent
research has shown that current provision of such
facilities is patchy. The announcement today will lead to
additional funding of £250,000 for 2004-05, and the same
amount for 2005-06, to the family bodies while ensuring
that all providers work together to improve the consistency
of national provision.
Research Findings on Family Formation and Dissolution in
Scotland were published last month by the Executive. The
research looks at trends in families and attitudes towards
family life among the Scottish population.
The research found, among other things, that over half
of those surveyed (57 per cent) in Scotland believed that
unmarried couples who live together have a 'common law
marriage'. Common law marriage does not exist. Nearly
half (49 per cent) of the population wrongly believed that
unmarried fathers have the same rights as married fathers
in relation to consent to children's medical treatment.
Ministers are therefore seeking views on how best to raise
awareness of family law issues, including the possibility
of a major national information campaign.
The consultation will run until June 28. The
Partnership Agreement contains a commitment 'to reform
family law for all of Scotland's people'.