Scottish Executive's response to Justice 1 Committee's report on Family Law Bill, 05/09/05 [S]
The Scottish Executive has released its response to the Justice 1 Committee's Stage 1 report on the Family Law (Scotland) Bill 2005. The Justice 1 Committee had recommended in its report that a full review of family support services be undertaken. However, included in its response the Executive says that no further review of family support services will be taken.
The Executive said that rather than undertake a review of family support services it is important that the overall framework is right as that will enable gains in effectiveness and efficiency.
The Executive also responded to the proposal from Scottish Women's Aid that provision is made in the Bill introducing a 'rebuttable presumption against contact' for fathers in cases in which domestic abuse has occurred. The Executive said that whilst they disagree with the proposal they said that the issue is a serious one that needs to be addressed.
The Executive also notes in its response that the Charter for Grandparents is now called the Charter for Grandchildren. The Charter will focus on highlighting the important contribution grandparents can make to the welfare of the child.
The Committee had suggested that a review be carried out of the operation of the 1995 Act in relation to grandparents. The Executive responded in their report that they have no plans to do this at present.
Furthermore, the Committee had requested that the Executive look into ways in which the status of illegitimacy can be removed. The Executive responded by saying that illegitimacy has virtually no effect in law and its abolition in Scotland would be purely symbolic. However, Executive solicitors are currently in discussion with their Scotland Office counterparts to determine whether the remaining statutory obstacles can be removed.
Read the full response on the Justice 1 Committee's pages of the Scottish Parliament's website. You can also find the Committee's report on the Bill here.
Further information
Justice 1 Committee's pages of the Scottish Parliament's websiteFamily Law (Scotland) Bill 2005
Stage 1 Report on Family Law (Scotland) Bill 2005
Information on these pages is impartial and does not reflect CiS opinion
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