Ms Saoirse Brady:

We thank the committee for the opportunity to attend this meeting. This is a very timely hearing to examine family law matters given the recent reforms that have taken place and the urgent need for further reform. We will probably echo much of what our other colleagues have already stated.

The Children's Rights Alliance unites over 100 members who work together to make Ireland one of the best places in the world in which to be a child. We change the lives of all children by ensuring that their rights are respected and protected in our laws, policies and services. We also provide legal information and advice to children, young people and their families through our newly established legal information line. We offer legal advice outreach clinics nationwide. That will inform some of what we have to say today.

Like Dr. O'Mahony, we will focus on two key aspects.

These are the role of children in family law proceedings, particularly with regard to the voice of the child, and the need to reform the family law court structures to meet, in particular, the needs of children and young people. The family law courts have not been designed to meet the needs of children and families, who are often embroiled in difficult family law disputes. The physical environment does not provide them with the necessary space and privacy to deal with very sensitive private family matters. Judges are making decisions in courts about intimate family law issues in the same rooms in which they hear cases relating to, for example, driving offences. Despite the fact that most proceedings involving children are subject to the in camera rule, we have heard from lawyers about the lack of privacy in court settings. They are giving legal advice in stairwells and corridors and not in private consultation rooms, never mind child-friendly consultation rooms. Children who are present in the courts often witness disturbing, upsetting or even violent behaviour. That needs to be addressed.

Guidance is available on how we can adapt our structures to make them more child-friendly. The Council of Europe has issued child-friendly justice guidelines. These provide that states should ensure that any proceedings involving children are dealt with in "non-intimidating and child-sensitive settings". They call for interviewing and waiting rooms for children "in a child-friendly environment" be provided in court settings. They say that children should be familiarised with the court setting, the layout and the roles and identities of officials ahead of the actual proceedings so that they know what is going on and understand what is happening. They also advise that court sessions involving children should be adapted to the child’s pace and attention span, with planned regular breaks and hearings that are limited in duration so that children can properly participate.

As a priority, we recommend the development of suitable accommodation for children and young people in the courts. A key aspect of this will be progressing Hammond Lane and the dedicated children and family courts that we have been promised for so long. All stakeholders should be consulted in developing and designing the new family courts, including legal professionals, families and those who work to support them. Most importantly, children and young people should also be consulted. This has happened previously in the context of the development of the children’s court in Smithfield. Other experts should be brought in. For example, Barnardos was invited to help to design the child-friendly spaces in the Criminal Courts of Justice. We recommend that this be done in this instance as well.

As Dr. O'Mahony stated, most child and family law cases are heard by generalist judges in the general courts system. However, specialised family or children’s court systems are commonplace across Europe and in other common-law jurisdictions where in which there are specially designed court facilities and the member of the judiciary and lawyers have specialised training. We have also seen good examples elsewhere. In the UK, Mr. Justice Peter Jackson wrote a letter in accessible language to a 14-year-old in a custody case. It was so unique that it made news headlines. He also wrote a judgment in emojis to help very young children understand what was going to happen to them in a way they found accessible. We think we could look to some of these examples and try to adapt them here. In the context of any family law reform, we recommend specialised training for all professionals working in the family law courts. This should reflect child-friendly justice principles. We need to train judges, lawyers and everybody involved in family law proceedings in order that they will know how to communicate effectively with children and young people. I invite my colleague, Ms Ahern, to talk about the role of children in proceedings a bit further.