The Family Courts Act 2024 was sign into law earlier this month.

The Act provides for the establishment of family court divisions within the existing court structures: a Family High Court, a Family Circuit Court and a Family District Court.

Judges will be assigned to the family courts divisions on a full-time basis who have specialist training or experience in dealing with family law matters.

Justice minister Helen McEntee, “(It) marks an important milestone in the much-needed reform of our family justice system. It is an unfortunate, but increasingly common reality for families to need the support of the courts and the justice system to reach a resolution to issues such as relationship breakdown, custody and guardianship arrangements and maintenance payments.”

As well as the changes listed above, some key reforms include, allowing for joint applications to be made for judicial separation, divorce, and dissolution of civil partnership, and supporting mediation and alternative dispute resolution in such cases.

Also, guiding principles for conduct of family law proceedings, which are directed at ensuring the best interests of the child are a primary consideration, encouraging mediation, where appropriate, and that as far as possible proceedings are accessible and user friendly.

Minister McEntee continued, “These amendments are aimed at ensuring the safety of parties to proceedings is considered, including when considering whether parties should engage in mediation or other forms of alternative dispute resolution.

“New provisions regarding prohibition on personal cross examination have also been inserted, similar to those in the Domestic Violence Act 2018.

“These actions, coupled with other actions within the Family Justice Strategy, will ensure our family justice system works better for everyone engaging with it, but particularly for those who need additional supports and protections, such as domestic violence victims.”

The hope is that this Act and corresponding legislation will enable a greater proportion of non-contentious family law matters to be dealt with at District Court level, thus minimising the costs for litigants.

This stands as a significant milestone in efforts to reform the Irish Family Courts system. Most of the proposed changes will assist litigants and the major changes such as, specialist judges, specialist Courts, dedicated Court rules and proposed new Court buildings are seen by many as all long overdue.

However key stakeholders in the practice of family law such as the Law Society of Ireland, the Bar Council of Ireland, the Family Lawyers Association and various prominent family lawyers have identified some concerns in the Bill. These include judicial issues, the overload of the District Court, court costs, the current lack of resources in the court’s infrastructure and the developing ‘two tier’ court system.

 

NB – This is a guide for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. If you have an issue requiring legal advice, please contact any of the team at Nolan Farrell & Goff LLP, whose numbers can be found on our website www.nfg.ie, or email info@nfg.ie.