Transmenu powered by JoomlArt.com - Mambo Joomla Professional Templates Club

©The Straits Times, Singapore (Used by permission)
by Chong Chee Kin

New court to focus on child welfare in divorce proceedings; another to handle troubled teens

THE father produced a picture drawn by his child, depicting the mother as a monster.

The mother produced her own. The same child drew the father as a monster.

Such ugly scenes in divorce cases - where the child is used as a 'bargaining chip' to settle other matters - are played out too often for the Chief Justice's liking.

Said CJ Chan Sek Keong: 'Parents who take an unnecessarily adversarial stand can worsen a dispute and obscure the real needs of the child. They often exacerbate their mutual hostility instead of focusing on the key issue of parental responsibilities.'

To ensure that children are not embroiled in their parents' conflicts, a new Family Child Court, which will put the children's interests before the adults', will be set up later this year.

The need for such protection lies in the rising divorce numbers - from 2,673 in 2004 to 2,845 last year.

Last year's divorce cases involved about 4,500 children below the age of 18.

Chief Justice Chan wants the adversarial nature of the divorce process to move to a 'quasi-inquisitorial' one where a judge takes care of the proceedings from start to end.

For example, parents will not be allowed to file multiple affidavits blaming each other for the breakdown in the relationship.

Instead, they will be asked for their parenting plans and care arrangements for their children.

Family lawyer Foo Siew Fong from Harry Elias Partnership applauded the move.

'In a custody battle, the children will be badly affected.

'They will be torn by their loyalties to their parents, especially if the parents make them choose who they want to follow.

'The children do not want to be in a position where they have to choose one parent over the other at the expense of making the other one angry.'

The Family Child Court initiative was announced yesterday at the Subordinate Courts' workplan seminar, along with other major changes aimed at putting children high on the judiciary's agenda.

The Chief Justice wants the Juvenile Court to focus on youth offenders only, rather than deal with them along with troubled teens.

The new Child Care Court, up on May 15, will handle children and teens who have been neglected or abused or who are beyond parental control.

Last year, 114 children were placed under Care and Protection Orders, up from just 39 in 2001.

Despairing parents who cannot control their charges have also sought the courts' help.

There were 163 Beyond Parental Control cases last year, a drop from 190 the year before.

Mr Patrick Tan, managing partner of Patrick Tan & Associates, said: 'Unlike those at the Juvenile Court, these children have not committed any offences, and it is timely to intervene and pull them back from the brink.'

Children's welfare comes first in new scheme

Same judges and counsellors to see cases to the end; parents to be quizzed on what's best for kids

by Theresa Tan

THE old chestnut about children suffering the most when their parents get divorced has been proven by many studies and the courts here are moving to minimise the pain for kids.

In what Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong yesterday described as a 'paradigm shift', the Subordinate Courts will act to ensure that, in divorce cases involving children, the child's interests are put first.

Currently, confrontations in divorce cases are common and children are often used as a bargaining chip by warring couples.

Most times, the opposing sides are not even in court and lawyers are left to look after their interests and present evidence - which normally paints the other side in a bad light - on behalf of their clients. Sometimes, lawyers even file multiple affidavits alleging bad behaviour on the other side.

All this will change when the courts roll out a new programme, Child, for the more acrimonious divorce cases.

As the name suggests, it will put the welfare of children affected by a divorce at the heart of the equation.

Under it, a team of judges and counsellors will see the same case from start to end.

At the start of a case, parents will be asked to fill in a questionnaire designed to make them think hard about what is best for their child.

The counsellor will meet the couple and present his observations to the judge.

The couple will also be required to be in court to answer the judge's questions.

And, if necessary, the judge may appoint someone to take part in the court proceedings on the child's behalf.

The Registrar of the Subordinate Courts, Judge Hoo Sheau Peng, said all these elements will have the effect of giving the children involved a louder 'voice' in decisions that affect them.

The move to a more child-friendly system comes as divorces here are on the rise.

Last year, 4,505 children were affected when their parents decided to split up.

Of the 5,937 couples who filed for divorce last year, close to half had children under the age of 18.

Director of the Family and Juvenile Justice Centre Sophia Ang said of the old system: 'When people are fighting, self-interest and defensiveness always kick in.

'The child's interests often take a back seat.'

She said that, with the new system, 'we want parents to cooperate''.

'Research worldwide has shown that the damage suffered by children can be reduced if the parents cooperate and act in the child's interest even after their marriage ends.'

Counsellors interviewed hailed the new initiative, saying there were many ways in which a child can be hurt in a divorce.

Many children feel sad, angry and confused, said Ms Azita Abdul Aziz, the centre director of the As-Salaam PPIS Family Support Centre, which counsels divorcees and their children.

The damage worsens if the child is caught in a situation where one or both parents are bad-mouthing each other and force the child to take sides.

Take the case of Ahmad (not his real name), who cried almost every day after his parents divorced when he was in primary school.

The Institute of Technical Education student, now 17, missed having his dad around but was mad that his father, who is twice-divorced, had taken up with another woman.

Said Ahmad: 'If my dad had considered our feelings, he wouldn't have found other women. He wouldn't have caused our family to break up.

'I'm really hurt by my parents' actions. But I just have to live with this hurt.'

Child Care Court to ease trauma for abused and neglected kids
by Selina Lum

THE number of abused and neglected children brought to the courts for Care and Protection Orders (CPO) has been rising steadily over the past decade.

The number stood at 114 last year, compared to just 18 in 1996.

In CPO cases, the courts can order that the child be left at home with close supervision by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS), or a relative may be appointed to care for the child. If the situation warrants it, the child may be placed in foster care or a home.

In one-third of the 114 cases last year, the abusers were the children's mothers, with fathers accounting for about one-fifth of the cases. One in four was abused by both parents.

Many of these parents were not earning any income or had various health, psychiatric, drug abuse and family problems. About a quarter had criminal records.

Now, to allow the courts to deal in depth with such cases, a specialised Child Care Court will be set up to hear CPO cases. Hearings will be held every Friday.

The court will be assisted by an in-house psychologist and social workers and will work closely with MCYS.

The process will be made more child-friendly and informal, and the timetable for cases will be driven by what is right for each child.

The Child Care Court will also hear Beyond Parental Control cases.

These two types of cases will be segregated and managed differently from criminal offences committed by juvenile offenders.

Dr Joseph Ozawa, senior deputy director of the Family and Juvenile Justice Centre, said the thinking behind the initiative is to draw as much of a line as possible between abused children and juvenile delinquents.

Some children may feel intimidated by the court's atmosphere or feel they are in court because they have done something wrong. 'One of the key things we are trying to do is to tell them that they are in a different court,' said Dr Ozawa.

He cited his experience in Australia: In a court building, to distinguish between the two types of children, one lift meant for wrongdoers was labelled 'crime', while the other for victims of abuse was labelled 'care'.

Counsellor Gracia Goh of Sunbeam Place, which is run by the Singapore Children's Society, welcomed the move. She said that for some children, the process of going to court can be intimidating and 'very trying'.

Ms Goh said it was not surprising that one-third of the abusers were mothers. 'It's stereotypical to think that abusers are fathers. Mothers are the ones who do the daily caregiving. They are the ones who face the strain.'

The problem is not confined to lower-income or single-parent families, she said. There are cases where the child's parents hold master's degrees or are well-respected in their fields.

But because their children do not meet their expectations, these parents 'react in extreme ways' by confining the kids, using physical violence or inflicting emotional abuse.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed