Hinch Blog: Family Court Faults
Over the years I have received – and continue to receive - more tortured, emotional, sad and frustrating mail about one subject than probably any other. Apart from the sexual abuse of children. Although sometimes the issues are entwined.
I am talking about the Family Court. A sometimes, unbending, seemingly unfair, biased, and (by necessity, they say) secretive, legal institution.
And it's that way, as the name says, because it is the 'Family' Court. A place where a judge tells parents whether or not their children can live with them. Whether a father can have access to his son or daughter and for how long. And how much of his future earnings must go to the support and upkeep of those children.
It is frustrating for many reasons. The secrecy laws make it hard for people to get their grievances aired publicly and I have been convicted by the Family Court in the past for trying to do just that.
Being a Family Court Judge would not be easy. You are ruling on adults' lives and children’s futures. And some parents become desperate, irrational and even violent when they don’t get their way.
The issue is in court for a number of reasons right now. Here in Melbourne yesterday there was a protest rally by the Safer Family Law Campaign. A group described as 'concerned Australian self-help groups, parents, legal experts, academics, domestic violence workers, health professionals, journalists, authors, counselors and members of the public from all over this country who are seeing consistent failures in the Family Law system to protect children'.
One of the speakers was, Dionne Fehring, whose two children, both under two years of age, were killed in a murder-suicide that she says followed a bad Family Court decision.
And in Britain a man was jailed for life for stabbing to death 24-year-old wife in front of her mother and her sons, after she had tried to save herself and her kids in several countries including Australia.
Cassandra Hasanovic had tried to seek refuge from her violent husband in Sydney after he was convicted of raping her. The courts here ordered her back to Britain to fight for custody. Police there gave her a panic alarm but refused to drive her to a safe house. She told them: "I live in fear for my safety. I am so scared of him."
Several hours later she was stabbed to death.
Dragged from the backseat of her car where she was huddled between her young sons while her mother tried to drive her to safety.
As the prosecutor said: "She obeyed a court order at the cost of her life."
My files are full of emails like this one received at the weekend from a mother: 'My son’s lawyer has told him he will be 'skinned alive' by her female Barrister as the court is gender biased in favour of the woman! And we see these facts all too often in the news with tragic results. How many more fathers will take their lives and their childrens' lives before the law is changed! The legal system is appalling and I hope to live to see it changed or at least save one life. This woman is evil and hell bent on destroying what my son has worked 20 years for ... " And so on.
I don't have the answers. But I am compelled to air the questions.
Hinch hammers home the point
NOTE: Please do not talk about specific Family Court cases in this blog, or name names and judges involved. These types of comments will not be published. Please keep your comments general.
Blog comments
Which is more important, lives or contact?
The gender bias due to the Family Court model of the Eighteenth century Emile. Mother gets more time if she obeys the father and ignores safety and child abuse. If the mother does not obey, they make orders for no contact. However, if the father is not consistent to this older model, the court also is very hard on the fathers and retaliate towards ANYONE who dares to challenge the court on its decisions and principles.Anonymums Monday 4 May, 2009 - 6:18 PM
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