Fathers 4 Justice is fighting for increased rights for non-resident parents (both fathers and mothers) to ensure they continue to have contact with their children following separation or divorce.

Amongst other things, they want the court to have greater powers to enforce contact orders. Contact orders are orders of the court stating that the child or children are to have contact with the non-resident parent and the frequency of this contact

Fathers 4 Justice say that parents with care of children frequently ignore these orders by refusing to allow the non-resident parent access to the child, and at present no action is taken against them.

In response to this campaign the government has just introduced a draft bill to parliament entitled ‘Children (Contact) and Adoption Bill’. Under this bill the court would be able to place conditions on contact occurring or order specific contact activities.

These include ordering one or both parents to attend parenting classes, counselling, or activities designed to deal with contact disputes. It is hoped this will help to reduce conflict between the parents and ensure that they concentrate on the needs of the child, instead of on the dispute they may have with one another.

These classes should also help to allay any fears of the parent with care about the non-resident parent’s perceived lack of ability to care for the child.

When a contact order has not been complied with, this bill proposes giving the court the power to impose on the parent who has not complied a community service order or a curfew.

At present the court only has the power to order imprisonment or a fine, which it is often reluctant to do, as it will inevitably have a detrimental effect on the child. It is hoped that judges will be more willing to impose these new punishments and so compliance will increase.

It is worth noting that the court will only have the power to force the parent with care to comply and so ensure that the child is available for contact. It cannot force a non-resident parent to have contact with their child.

Finally, the bill proposes giving the court the ability to award compensation for financial losses suffered as a result of the non-compliance with the contact order, for example the cost of a cancelled holiday.

These proposals go a long way to improving the situation for the non-resident parent. However it is yet to be seen how effective these powers will be in practice. We shall have to wait and see if Fathers have finally got Justice.

***** STOP PRESS *****

The Children (Contact) and Adoption Bill has now become the Children and Adoption Act 2006. However as yet it does not have an implementation date due to problems with funding.

You can contact Nicole Biggs on 01635 521212 or nicole.biggs@clmlaw.co.uk