The Government should establish family law courts to properly protect the best interests of children before instituting a more liberal divorce regime, according to Alan Shatter the former Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence.
Commenting on the proposed divorce referendum in a letter in the Irish Times yesterday, he said it was crucial that a specialist independent family court structure be first put in place [1]. He said it was needed “to ensure the best interests of children and the welfare of dependent spouses are properly protected”.
He was responding to a report that childcare cases are being heard in overcrowded courts alongside criminal cases, [2] in sometimes dilapidated courthouses, without basic facilities or privacy for families.