Shatter warns of ‘hyping acrimony’ in family law cases

JUSTICE Minister Alan Shatter has warned barristers and solicitors not to “hype acrimony” in family law cases, claiming too many cases were entering the legal system when they could instead be resolved through mediation.

Mr Shatter made his comments at the launch of a new Family Mediation Service (FMS) which, since it began on a pilot basis on March 21, has resolved 16 cases.

The pilot scheme will run for a year but in the past eight weeks, of the 554 people informed about it through the District Court, 110 expressed an interest in the process, which seeks to avoid the family going through the courts.

In 119 cases where families were informed of the FMS through the Legal Aid Board, 30 expressed an interest.

In addition to the 16 cases already resolved, approximately 25 others are currently going through the FMS process.

Mr Shatter said “it is an unfortunate social side effect of our economic situation that it brings intense pressure and friction to families,” but said he was “hugely enthusiastic” about the FMS, which he said was “a huge step in the right direction”.

“We have too many family disputes before our courts that could be resolved either by agreement or through mediation.”

He warned those in the legal profession to be aware of the FMS process and said those that “hype acrimony” in family disputes were simply adding to the damage that had already been done to the family.

The FMS is based out of Dolphin House in Dublin and has been augmented by simplified directions to aspects of family law on the courts.ie website.