Quicker Justice for Fathers?

Are you currently involved in long and stressful court proceedings in a fight to have contact with your children? Do you ever feel like there will never be an end to your on-going struggle to see your children?

I suspect you do not feel alone as it has been reported that family justice is currently under a huge strain with around 20,000 families currently waiting for the Court to resolve their dispute. Parents are regularly being advised to use mediation to make arrangements for caring for their children and to only turn to the courts as a last resort. However mediation is not always the best course of action, especially where hostilities exist between the parents and this inevitable means that many fathers find that they continue to struggle to enjoy sufficient contact with their children and the Court’s involvement is the only way they are able to see their children.

So is there good news for fathers on the horizon?

Mr Justice Rider and the Lord Chief Justice have announced plans to minimise the time it takes for family courts to speed up cases that are heard in England and Wales.

The above proposal includes plans for a single family court run by both judges and magistrates to replace the current system where judges sit in multiple court buildings. This will replace the current system where cases can be heard in either one of three Courts; the Family Division of the High Court, County Court and Family Proceedings Court.

So will this mean that fathers will get to see their children quicker? Well as London Family Law Specialists, we are hopeful the proposals will speed up the current system to make a difference to fathers seeking contact.

Under the current rules, CAFCASS provides what is known as a “Wishes and Feelings Report” or if required, a “Section 7 Report” stating their views of the children’s’ feeling about having contact with the non-resident parent. However with CAFCASS being over-burdened, many fathers have been left feeling frustrated about the slow and insufficient procedures currently in place.

In an attempt to counter this possibility of delay, Mr Justice Ryder has made the radical recommendation that the views of children be communicated directly to the Court. This will mean that children will be given a direct voice to the Judge to make their views known in decisions that affect them. Naturally this will apply to children of certain ages and abilities, but this could be a huge progression in legal proceedings: removing the fear of delay caused by CAFCASS and complaints of unfair and biased reports being prepared.

Not only will children be able to be heard quickly and directly by the Judge, but under the new recommendations Judges will also receive more training and guidance to help them reach quicker decisions and in some cases, make quicker decisions as to how much contact a father should have with their children.

Of course many children are of an age where they can clearly express their views to a Court and are aware of the Court case that concerns them. By allowing children to have a faster route to explaining to a Judge that they want to have contact with their father, will invariably mean that contact disputes will resolve sooner rather than later.

This sounds fantastic and finally a step in the right direction to achieving some justice for fathers striving for contact.  However, these are only recommendations at this stage and one cannot get too excited as there is a long way to go before the current procedure is changed in any way.  Issues’ involving residence and contact with infants is something that also remains to be tackled.  But what we can see is a clear indication of a shift in the thinking of the Court system and the judiciary towards fathers and whilst it has been a long time coming, the change of direction will be welcomed by fathers everywhere.  No doubt, there will be opposition to the proposals from various groups lobbying for the law to remain as it is, as surely children cannot be trusted to tell the Courts what they want – and hence, the need to remain grounded and not get too excited about the proposals.

For now, it is important for all you fathers out there to challenge the status quo in a strategic manner. The first step in any strategy will be to establish contact or residence with your children ASAP.  It may appear a long winded process at the present time: but with the right representation and the correct approach, it can be achieved.  At Bains Cohen LLP, we pride ourselves on being specialist London Family Law Solicitors who strive for fighting for fathers’ rights to have contact with their children as quickly and as less stressful as possible. If you are fighting an on-going contact battle or are considering issuing court action or contemplating mediation, please contact us on 0208 252 7373 to discuss the strategies available to you.

Rebecca Antoniou

Solicitor

Bains Cohen LLP