Family Law – the case for reform and a review of cohabitation legislation by Helen Coughlan
The current family law system is broken and failing the most vulnerable in our society. This failure is two-fold: there are chronic delays in accessing the courts and the facilities in the actual buildings are Dickensian and not fit for purpose. While we have excellent legislation – a Rolls Royce standard – there is a severe lack of resources to give effect to and implement these laws.
The Family and Child Law Committee of the Law Society has examined the current system and made a number of recommendations to Government, the latest of which involved written and oral submissions to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice and Equality in February of this year.