For immediate release: 13th June 2015

Rebecca Minnock Case: FNF Comment

News reports this morning (13/6/2015) confirm that Rebecca Minnock, the mother who appears to have absconded with her child before a court hearing to determine child arrangements, has been found safe and well with her son. The child has now been reunited with his father, who has not known his whereabouts for over 2 weeks.

This case is clearly incredibly difficult for all parties involved, and there are certainly no 'winners' in any dispute which needs to be resolved in the family courts. The charity is very happy to see that it is being resolved positively. One of the most important issues raised by this case is the importance of family courts taking firm steps to ensure that their orders are enforced.

Jerry Karlin, Chair of Families Need Fathers, said, "It is clear in this case that the court is standing by its responsibility to ensure that its orders are followed by both parties, and that it is to be commended. In too many cases, we see orders which have been made in the child's best interest simply ignored by a parent intent on forcing their former partner out of their child's life.  Breaching orders and making false allegations causes serious harm to children and parents. It is important that courts send the clear message that compliance with Child Arrangements Orders is not optional, and that such breaches will always be treated with the utmost importance.

A parent putting their own interests above their child by flouting a court order is intolerable. This case should serve as a reminder to parents that failing to follow court orders can have very serious consequences.  It should also signal a renewed intent on the part of the family justice system to ensure that the orders they make in the child's best interest will be enforced."

ENDS 

For comment, case studies or information please contact: media@fnf.org.uk.

Note for editors:

Families Need Fathers (FNF) is a registered charity providing information and support on shared parenting issues arising from family breakdown, and support to divorced and separated parents, irrespective of gender or marital status.  

Our primary concern is the maintenance of the child’s relationship with both parents. 

Founded in 1974, FNF helps thousands of parents every year.

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For immediate release                                                     17 February 2015

FNF Comment on Court Ordered DNA Tests

A POSITIVE MOVE FOR FAMILIES IN DISPUTE

Families Need Fathers welcomes the announcement today (17/2/2015) that from September 2015, family court judges in England will be able to order DNA tests to determine a child’s parentage where this is disputed during proceedings. This will be funded by the Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS).

Currently, parents are required to pay for DNA testing, and the costs and delays of resolving paternity disputes during proceedings can significantly hinder the legal process.

Jerry Karlin, Chair of Families Need Fathers, said, “Although questions about paternity are not a feature of the majority of cases in the family courts, it can be a substantial barrier for parents when it is an issue. The introduction of court ordered and funded DNA testing will assist courts in making the right decisions for children without unnecessary delay, whilst also providing peace of mind to the parents involved.”

The introduction of this scheme nationally follows pilot schemes that were carried out in Taunton and Bristol.

ENDS 

For comment, case studies or information please contact:

Ross Jones, Policy & Communications Manager 0300 0300 110

Note for editors:

The Ministry for Justice press release announcing this move is available here.

Families Need Fathers (FNF) is a registered charity providing information and support on shared parenting issues arising from family breakdown, and support to divorced and separated parents, irrespective of gender or marital status.  

Our primary concern is the maintenance of the child’s relationship with both parents. 

Founded in 1974, FNF helps thousands of parents every year.

What do you think?

Send us feedback!

A report published today (2/6/2015) by the Universities of Reading and Warwick and funded by the Nuffield Foundation, reports that there is no indication of gender bias in contested cases in County Courts.

Families Need Fathers acted in an advisory capacity on this project, as it does in many research reports relating to family law and policy in the UK. Whilst we are always happy to contribute to this process by feeding in our experience of supporting separated parents, we do not determine the outcomes or conclusions of such projects; only advise on the experiences of our service users.

For the avoidance of doubt, the charity would like to make it clear that it strongly disagrees with any implication that fathers do not ever experience any bias in the process of family law cases. The charity exists to support non-resident parents, predominantly fathers, in maintaining a meaningful relationship with their children after separation, and we see day-to-day the numerous challenges that these fathers face in the courts to demonstrate that their children would benefit from a relationship with them.

Whilst the wording of the law in itself is not biased against fathers, the effects of bias in the interpretation of the law runs much deeper than whether a court eventually orders some level of contact or not, or other measures which can be obtained in court files. Perceptions of the role of fathers, particularly relating to care of younger children, continue to influence some cases as much as the relevant facts of a case. For example, many fathers frequently find themselves unable to obtain staying contact with younger children as they are told by courts that the children cannot be away overnight from their mother at these ages. This is simply not considered an issue in families if a mother works nights, or the child spends time with their grandparents overnight. It is the charity’s view that this form of bias regarding the appropriate roles of fathers in relation to child care continues to be a significant obstacle for fathers trying to obtain contact with their children through the courts, particularly in acrimonious cases.

Families Need Fathers would also draw attention to how experiences of the family court system feed in to perceptions of bias. Issues such as the lack of adequate enforcement of court orders give rise to the strong perception that courts are not properly committed to enabling children to maintain a relationship with both of their parents. Many parents find themselves unable, either financially or emotionally, to keep returning to court to try and resolve these issues. These parents are invariably missed in official statistics, though in our experience, they form a sizeable proportion of the parents we help.

Whilst the courts have indeed made progress over recent years regarding how private family law cases are handled, there is still a long way to go to ensure that traditional perceptions of the roles mothers and fathers do not influence outcomes. These too often damage a child's chances of having contact with his or her parent and grandparents. 

It is our experience that very similar cases can continue to have widely divergent outcomes depending on which court or region a case is heard in. We consider the dismissal of any bias in the system as a whole to be out of step with the experience of thousands of our service users, and fear that the dismissal of valid concerns based on a small sample of cases risks stalling the essential and ongoing progress in family justice reform.

The report How do county courts share the care of children between parents? can be accessed on this link: http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/how-do-county-courts-share-care-children-between-parents 

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