THERE IS a need for clear principles for the proper provision for dependent family members following marriage breakdown, according to leading family law expert Geoffrey Shannon.
He was speaking at the launch of his book, Divorce Law and Practice, by Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan and Mrs Justice Catherine McGuinness, president of the Law Reform Commission.
Mr Shannon said that 11 years ago, when the divorce Act came into operation, no one could have imagined how society would change. It now boasts about 33,000 millionaires, a statistic unimaginable to most people at the time. Divorce has operated in the context of this change and is now the fastest-growing marital status. The question now was what kind of legal framework and practice should underpin the law.
Mr Shannon said we needed to support those marriages that were capable of being saved and to enable those which could not be saved to be dissolved with the minimum of avoidable distress, bitterness and hostility. This meant encouraging as far as possible the amicable resolution of practical issues relating to the couple’s home, finances and children.
Divorce disputes needed alternative forms of resolution other than the courts, though the courts were still needed where cases could not be resolved in any other way.
Children were deeply affected by divorce, he said. The law aimed to make the welfare of the child paramount, yet we did not listen to what children had to say, we did not help them understand what was happening and we did not meet their support needs at a time of intense emotional upheaval.
Mr Shannon said we were at a crossroads between a traditional assumption that children were best protected by keeping them ignorant of their parents’ circumstances and a newer idea that children needed to know about and participate in family affairs if they were to cope with change.
The Minister for Justice said the legal profession must educate themselves in mediation techniques in relation to family law.