Government to explore creation of specialised family court to deal with separation cases

Government will be exploring the idea of creating a specialised family court in a White Paper to be published shortly, Justice Minister Jonathan Attard said.

The White Paper will make several suggestions for legal changes concerning separation cases, maintenance payments, mediation and other aspects related to family law.

Attard told parliament on Monday that a “specialised family court will improve efficiency” when dealing with cases that are sensitive because they may involve children.

He was replying to a parliamentary question by Labour MP Amanda Spiteri Grech.

Attard said that the government has been evaluating several proposals over the past two years and the time has now come to publish a White Paper for public consultation.

The minister added that the role of mediation in separation proceedings should be strengthened and legislative changes made to ensure the process is not held up indefinitely because of minor divergences.

Members of Happy Parenting Malta, a parents’ rights lobby group, called for changes to family law, during a protest outside parliament last week.

Among the changes, they called for decriminalisation of the failure to pay alimony and the need for greater emphasis on shared parenting in separation cases to minimise parental alienation.