A group promoting the rights of unmarried fathers has called for the compulsory registration of fathers on birth certificates.

Launching a new document on family law, the group, Families, Fathers and Friends, also called for all fathers to be made legal guardians of their children from birth.

Lead counsellor for the group, Sam Butt, said that Christmas was often a “particularly sad time for for families who were separated”.

“Every year we see hundreds of fathers who will not have access to their children over the holiday period,” he said.

He also said that fathers who had obtained court orders to get access to their children were routinely being denied access.

The group’s document, “Charter for Family Law”, lays out a number of proposals, including a change in the Constitution. It claims that fathers “married and unmarried” have no rights in respect of their children under the Constitution or in legislation.

Currently, unmarried fathers have only the right to apply for guardianship. Unmarried mothers are given guardianship status automatically.

However, fathers who are married are also automatically made guardians of their children in law.

Guardianship confers many of the rights of married parents, including the right to be consulted on key decisions in a child’s life.

Mr Butt added that recognition of fathers’ rights was not the only neglected aspect of family law. He said that the entire system was “outdated, dysfunctional and fails in the services it was set up to provide”.

Apart from a change in the Constitution and automatic guardianship, the document also called for more transparency of family court proceedings through relaxation of In Camera rule and the recognition of pre-nupital agreements.

Speaking at the launch, Equality Minister Mary White attended the launch and said that the Government was committed to reviewing family law.

In August, the Minister promised to help fathers who are being denied access to their children by their former partners.

Minister White said: “We have to have to have a clear path for access — guardianship or custody or even familial visits of separated and single dads so those visits can be facilitated and not frustrated by a partnership that has been dissolved or that has irretrievably broken down.”

The Law Reform Commission published its consultation paper in September 2009 and a Report on the Legal Aspects of Family Relationships is expected in the coming months.