Patrick Costello
Question:540. Deputy Patrick Costello asked the Minister for Justice if she will legislate to replicate the child law reporting project for private family law cases. [29694/24]
View answerTuesday, 9 July 2024
Questions (540)
Written answers
As the Deputy is aware, my Department is leading an ambitious programme of family justice reform set out in the first Family Justice Strategy, which I 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 Strategy outlines the steps needed to create a more efficient and user-friendly family court system that puts the family and children at the centre of its work. This will be achieved through the implementation of over 50 actions across nine goals, with timelines for delivery up to the end of 2025.
To date, various actions in the Strategy have already been completed. These include the completion of policy reviews on parental alienation, the enforcement of child maintenance orders, and the role of expert reports in family law. The Courts Service has launched its Family Law Information Hub and 360 tour. The Legal Aid Board has established its panel of private mediators to enhance the roll-out of family mediation services across the country. Other actions are underway, or are due to commence, including establishing a working group to analyse the training needs of those working across the family justice system and to develop effective and relevant training programmes. Nominees for membership of the group have been sought and the first meeting is expected to take place in the coming weeks.
Goal six of the strategy relates to Data and Information Management. The aim of this goal is to develop better ways to manage, collect and share information within the family justice system, maintaining privacy and dignity of users but allowing for better case management, statistical reporting and evidence based decision making. There are a number of actions under this goal, many relating to research. The Department has already commissioned research to examine the operation of the in camera rule, which is underway.
The goal also contains an action to examine the feasibility of establishing a family law case reporting system, including trialling a project to analyse case outcomes, judgements and decisions to produce summaries in plain language of various case types; and subsequent to this, producing a guideline for regular, established public reporting of case outcomes, decisions and judgements in family law as a matter of course across all court jurisdictions. I intend to publish a tender for this work in the second half of this year and will make a further announcement in that regard in due course.
This initiative will not require legislation in that section 40(3) of the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004, as amended by the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2013, makes provision for the preparation and publication of reports of family law proceedings. The Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 (Section 40(3)) Regulations 2005 (S.I. No. 337 of 2005) specify the classes of persons who may attend family law proceedings and have access to relevant court documents for the purpose of publishing reports on the proceedings.