It has been announced that the Government is pushing ahead with controversial shared parenting laws, which will come into force next year, despite opposition from legal experts.
Ministers unveiled the plans yesterday after evidence that a large number of children lose contact permanently with one parent after the breakdown of a marriage. Under the new laws, children from broken homes will have the right to maintain a relationship with both parents.
In addition, courts will be required to consider the rights of grandparents when a marriage breaks down, as children often lose contact with a whole section of a family, although it has not yet been decided whether to legislate to ensure that grandparents are legally offered access.
Under the new laws, judges will have to ensure that fathers are given the legal right to spend time to develop a meaningful relationship with their sons or daughters, providing that a child’s wellbeing is not jeopardised by such a relationship.
The “safety and welfare of children is paramount” as far as drafting the legislation is concerned, according to a letter written to MPs by children’s minister Edward Timpson.
He added that both parents should play a positive role in their children’s lives, as long as “it is safe and in their best interests” and said that, currently, the law does not “fully recognise the important role that both parents can play in a child’s life.”
However, critics of the planned legislation say that the laws will lead to confusion and could jeopardise the welfare of children, while the Law Society described them as “seriously flawed”.
But pressure groups, such as Fathers for Justice, are likely to welcome the proposals, as they will include penalties, such as the removal of a passport, for mothers who attempt to defy a court’s access orders.