Families Need Fathers Scotland welcomes Holyrood family law report

Families Need Fathers (FNF) Scotland has welcomed a report by Holyrood’s Justice Committeewhich makes a strong case for a broad review of Scots family law.

The committee conducted a post legislative scrutiny of the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006 between February and March 2016.

It invited written evidence from a range of legal academics and interested organisations, including FNF Scotland, and held two oral evidence sessions.

In its report the committee acknowledged that its scrutiny exercise was a rapid exploration of the effect and effectiveness of the act but that the views that had been submitted to it had spilled over into a broader consideration of the state of Scotland’s family law.

The committee said: “It is a report to our successors on the next Justice Committee, setting out views on which aspects of family law covered in the 2006 Act they may wish to consider in more depth in the next session.”

Ian Maxwell, National Manager of FNF Scotland, said: “We are very grateful to the committee for undertaking this short, sharp exercise. The committee acknowledges that its conclusions are therefore more in the nature of observations than recommendations.

“However, we feel in time it may be recognised as an important milestone in the modernisation of family law in Scotland by opening up a range of fundamental issues for its successor to explore.

“It will give them the opportunity to take in new insights into family life as it is lived across Scotland. It will allow the debates to move on from present entrenched positions and it will create space for an approach to resolving problems that arise when parents separate that promotes parenting rather than controls it.”