Should there be a change in the law on shared parenting after relationship breakdown? The government has now published its long-awaited response to the Family Justice Review chaired by David Norgrove, which spent 18 months considering exactly that. The Children Act 1989 currently requires that the “child’s welfare shall be the paramount consideration” in family court decision-making. The Norgrove review decided against a stronger statement on shared parenting, based mainly on the Australian experience where shared-care legislation had not worked as intended and had shifted the focus from children’s needs to parent’s rights.

Although the report was widely welcomed by those who work within the family justice system, it was not by fathers’ rights groups. And now the government has rejected the recommendation, with ministers to formulate “a legislative statement of the importance of children having an ongoing relationship with both their parents after family separation, where that is safe, and in the child’s best interests”.

via >The Children Act is an act of kindness | Liz Trinder | Comment is free | The Guardian.