Labour welcomes Family Court’s National Early Intervention Programme
Labour's Justice spokesperson Lianne Dalziel is welcoming the Family Court’s announcement of the rollout of the successful Christchurch pilot of a scheme designed to involve family courts intervening sooner in urgent cases and placing more emphasis on mediation for routine ones.
Principal Family Court Judge Peter Boshier says a programme to be introduced in April will help reduce bitter disputes over children and stop ‘self-indulgent’ parents delaying the court process.
Lianne Dalziel that while there were cases where mediation was not appropriate, most cases will benefit from the new scheme.
"The cases where mediation is not appropriate, such as where domestic violence is involved, will gain the court’s urgent attention,” Lianne Dalziel said.
“But the majority of family court cases will benefit from an approach that enables the parties to sit down and focus on the issues, with the clear understanding of how damaging parental disputes are to their children.”
Lianne Dalziel said that this approach will enable parents to take responsibility for working out solutions in relation to their children when their relationship has broken down, rather than engaging in lengthy and costly litigation.
"There is nothing more upsetting than to see children used as pawns in a bitter dispute between adults, so the early focus on the issues that need to be resolved is a welcome approach," Lianne Dalziel said.
"I have seen parents spending more than $25,000 on legal fees to settle day to day care and contact issues. This is a resource that could be better spent on supporting their children through the difficult reality of parental separation.”
Lianne Dalziel said the new approach was a logical extension of the Care of Children Act's focus which is that "the welfare and best interests of the child must be the first and paramount consideration".
