Long-Running Family Law Dispute In The Spotlight

A father embroiled in a family law dispute related to contact with his daughter has revealed in an interview how he has been through a 12-year legal battle in which more than 80 court orders allowing him the right to see her have not been enforced.

The unnamed 61-year-old man, interviewed by the Daily Mail, separated from the mother of his daughter – known as M – in 2001 when the child was 21 months old.

After a long-running legal battle, a family court judge in Sheffield stated that the father should not be allowed the right to see M. However, this was then overturned in September at the Court of Appeal and the father restarted court action to gain access.

In the Court of Appeal judgment, it was revealed there had been 82 court orders for contact issued since 2006. In addition, the father was described as “unimpeachable”, with sitting judge Lord Justice Aikens adding that the family justice system had “failed the whole family”.

The court process for the father to seek contact began again in Leeds last month, but has since been adjourned until February due to a dispute regarding the use of psychological experts.

Speaking after the latest hearing, the father told the Daily Mail: “Parents making applications to establish contact are often left defeated and frustrated by the slowness and lethargy of the court process. Time with your children can never be recaptured – it is lost forever.”

Expert Opinion

A case of this kind highlights how, once in the court system, both sides can become very entrenched and disputes can become bitter, time-consuming and costly on both an emotional and financial level. <br/> <br/>"This is why we always encourage separating couples from the earlier possible stage to consider alternative approaches to reaching an amicable arrangement, through processes such as mediation, collaborative law and a general effort to compromise. <br/> <br/>"However, it is of course inevitable that in some cases going to court is the only real answer to solving problems between warring parties. There are enforcement procedures which can come into play in cases such as this – which can be known as implacable hostility or parental alienation. <br/> <br/>"Once in this process, judges are rightly required to put the best interests of children first and will work to ensure that a child grows up having a relationship with both parents if possible. <br/> <br/>"In some scenarios, it may be considered in the child’s best interests to move to live with the other parent, where that parent will ensure that the child will still spend time with their former partner. <br/> <br/>"In addition, in extreme cases courts can go so far as imprisoning mothers who repeatedly fail to meet the terms of court orders but, again, this is unlikely to be a positive outcome for children who are involved. <br/> <br/>"Clearly there is a very delicate balancing act to consider here and it is safe to say the courtroom is not always the best place for this to be undertaken. We would urge anyone affected by similar problems to not hesitate to speak to legal specialists about the steps they could take to address such issues."