MEASURES to give children a greater say in custody disputes and to encourage the resolution of such disputes out of court have been published in a new Bill.
The Minister for Equality and Law Reform, Mr Taylor, said yesterday that the Bill broke new ground in Irish society. "It is fair to say that, at times in the past, insufficient emphasis has been placed on the rights of the child", the Minister said. "This Bill is a further step in remedying that defect."
The Children Bill 1997, if passed, will oblige the courts to consider the wishes of the child in family law cases. Courts will also be able to arrange for the child to be separately represented in such cases if they consider it necessary. Children will be allowed to give evidence in civil cases by a TV link.
Where parents are not married, a child's natural father will be able to become a guardian by agreement with the mother without having to go to court, as at present.
The Bill also provides a right for grandparents and other relatives to apply to the courts for access to children.
The plight of grandparents denied access to children when their own children's marriages break up has increasingly come to light in recent months. The AIM group, which provides voluntary family law counselling and mediation services, recently raised this with the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Family.
A key theme of the Bill is encouragement to couples to settle their differences out of court.
Before beginning access or custody proceedings, a solicitor will be obliged to discuss reconciliation possibilities with the parent. The solicitor will also be obliged to provide the parent with the names and addresses of persons qualified to help them to reconcile their differences outside court.
The courts will be able to adjourn proceedings to allow for reconciliation.
"What I want to see, so far as humanly possible, is that every assistance is given to couples to resolve their differences by agreement rather than by confrontation", Mr Taylor said. "That approach should be reflected in our family laws as well as our family services, because it is a thousand times better for children, as well as for parents, to proceed by negotiation rather than conflict."
Courts will also be allowed to admit hearsay evidence on behalf of a small child where that child is too young to give evidence in court or where it would be contrary to the welfare of the child to have to give oral evidence.
Referring to the provision to allow unmarried fathers joint guardian ship by agreement with the mothers of their children, Mr Taylor said that the debate on the rights of unmarried fathers had "often been conducted in terms of the competing rights of fathers and mothers". He added: "What has not been fully recognised is the rights of the child."
Mr Taylor, who is due to retire as a TD when the Oireachtas is dissolved, pointed out that the Bill was the 20th he had published since his appointment - "and, indeed, quite possibly the last for my own term of office".