A NEW YEAR MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF EQUAL PARENTING COUNCIL (EPC)There is one Family Law Reform in 2006 that could end misery for so many children, parents & grandparents! It would also save the country a fortune and lead to children being better supported financially, as well as emotionally by their parents!
As for the CSA, we need sensible reform based on tried & tested measures that work before we impose electronic tagging & curfews on parents who are being wrongly excluded from their children's lives!
While I was in Kensington High Street doing some shopping with my daughter, Toni-Amanda, just before Christmas, I bumped into the second wife (Pamela) of a long standing supporter (George) of EPC. George's first wife (Sue) has been obstructing his contact with his young daughter (Mandy) for many years.
George is a softly spoken, gentle, professional man. The idiots at CAFCASS, as is all too typical of them, would not lift a finger to discourage Sue from obstructing the relationship between Mandy and her dad. In fact, they encouraged it! They once wrote an unhelpful report referring to George as "too cerebral" - as though his impressive intellect could somehow be used to diminish his status as a parent to Mandy.
Pamela told me during our brief Xmas-shopping encounter at Marks & Spencers that, after a long, fruitless struggle, George decided to give up the fight to be a parent to Mandy. As so often occurs in these cases, Mandy eventually said she no longer wished to see her dad. CAFCASS would therefore do nothing further - not that they had ever done anything useful in the case anyway! Therefore Mandy has lost a wonderful dad, needlessly, and George is devastated.
George and Mandy's case is all too familiar to EPC. Sue was able to destroy the parent-child bond between this good father and his daughter, perhaps forever, aided and abetted by CAFCASS and our useless family justice system. Such circumstances cause, in our experience, so many good parents either to give up on trying to see their children, or to accept paltry crumbs of "contact" with their kids!
As we start 2006, let's remember the millions of children that were denied their right to spend any part of the Christmas/New Year holiday with one of their parents. Millions of children of separated parents were also denied the right to see grandparents over the holiday. Too many fit parents and grandparents are denied the right ever to see their children.
Why is it that children are being denied access to fit parents and grandparents when it is patently contrary to their best interests? There is a simple, two-part answer to that question, which is this: -
1. The parent with de facto custody of the children does not want to allow access
2. Our family court system doesn't work for these children and their excluded parents/grandparents
It is tragic for all the children, parents and grandparents who fall victim to our useless system. Yet it is a needless tragedy.
EPC has long been saying that there is a fundamental flaw in our family law - namely, it lacks a legal presumption (rebuttable for cause) that all fit parents should be legally entitled to substantial parenting time (our preferred term over "contact" or "access") following separation from the other parent.
In other words, parenting should be shared between the two parents unless a parent poses a safety risk. As I understand it, this is also the position of the Labour Government, yet Labour refuses to correct our flawed family court system to make shared parenting a reality for children, parents and grandparents.
Government argues that to provide excluded fit parents with a legal right (rebuttable for cause) to see their children would expose more children to violence. In fact the reverse is the case. Shared parenting is safer for children. Unfortunately, Government continues to suffer from a blind spot over this issue, which means children continue to suffer needlessly.
As we've demonstrated to Government numerous times, Best Practice jurisdictions across the USA are light years ahead of UK. Now Australia, after much research, is radically amending its Family Law Act to help children keep both parents. The concept of parental equality is being introduced. Under the reformed law, Australian judges will have to consider EQUAL TIME-SHARING in the first instance. They will have to give WRITTEN REASONS for any departure from equality. At the very least, contact will have to be FREQUENT, SIGNIFICANT and RECURRING.
Here at EPC, it is our hope that in 2006 the UK Government will take similar steps towards securing our children's right to be raised by both their parents. Our children are this country's future. Good, balanced parenting gives children the best chance of a successful life. It is therefore crucial to the success of our country that we make this simple reform to our family law system so that fit parents start to be treated equally by our legal system.
It would also mean that the fundamental Human Right of children and parents, like Mandy and George, to enjoy a family life together will have the beginnings of some sort of protection under UK law.
EQUAL TREATMENT of fit parents will also lead to better financial support for children because, as a matter of common-sense, we would not need to spend billions of pounds beating parents over the head to financially support their children! As the authorities learnt long ago in USA, parents who are being allowed to be fully involved in their children's lives are far more likely to support them financially, as well as emotionally.
And there's still more good news on the financial side too (unless you are a family lawyer)! The country can save a fortune in money wasted on senseless legal battles over children's arrangements.
To learn more, please visit www.EqualParenting.org Please support our campaign in 2006.
I wish everyone a very Happy 2006!
Tony Coe, President, EQUAL PARENTING COUNCIL
UK Branch of Children's Rights Council
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