Scottish Churches Parliamentary Office, Edinburgh - Briefing Document Three

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Parliamentary Officer:Rev Graham Blount
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Briefing Document No 3 - Page 1 of 5

Improving Scottish Family Law.

Launching this Scottish Office consultation document, Henry McLeish said "Supporting the family is a top priority for the Government and this document is another significant step towards creating a fairer society … Families are at the heart of our society and the breakdown of family life attacks the very fabric of society … We recognise the Government has a major role to play in supporting good parenting and putting in place the framework in which families can flourish."

As a starting point, the document outlines a series of principles on which it says family law should be based:
Parents have prime responsibility for their children.
The state and the courts should only intervene in the family if parents are unable to exercise their responsibilities and rights, and if to intervene is in the best interests of the child.
Children should have the opportunity to express their views and for their views to be taken into account by their parents, the courts or others who are considering major decisions which will affect them.
In the event of a risk of divorce, parents should be fully informed of the implications for their responsibilities and rights and should take full account of the possible effects on their children.
In the event of separation or divorce of parents, parental responsibilities and rights should normally continue, with each parent having an active responsibility to promote the child's continued relationship with the other parent.
When a marriage breaks down, there should be fairness between the divorcing parties with matrimonial property being shared fairly, taking into account the arrangements for the care of the children and any exceptional circumstances.
The best interests of the child should be the paramount consideration of the courts.
No divorce should be granted until appropriate arrangements have been made for the children of the marriage.
The legal arrangements for the break up of a marriage should avoid acrimony as far as possible.

The document considers a variety of family law reform issues - some of them quite technical - from this perspective. One very welcome characteristic is that it frames the issues in terms of questions and usually gives the pros and cons of possible reforms, rather than arguing a particular line. The specific questions on which responses are sought are clearly laid out, and are included as an insert in this briefing (although some will only make sense alongside the full text of the paper). Copies of the paper are available from the Scottish Office, through the Scottish Churches Parliamentary Office, or on the web at www.scotland.gov.uk/library/documents-w8/isfl-00.htm.

Of special interest among the statistics quoted are (a) an increase in the proportion of births to unmarried parents from 16% in 1987 to 31% in 1997 and (b) despite increases in divorces, the number of divorces in which children are involved has fallen from around 5,000 in 1979 to just over 2,000 in 1997 (Annex B).