Address by An Tánaiste at the official presentation of the Report of the Family Law Reporting Service 'Family Law Matters' at Green Street Courthouse

Board Members, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I wish to express my gratitude for the invitation to speak to you on this auspicious occasion for family law research. I welcome the opportunity to mark a day of major progress in the field of family law reporting. Family law and the in camera rule is of great interest to many citizens as, regrettably, increasing levels of family breakdown, in line with international trends, mean that more people are coming into contact with the family law courts.

As many of you know from direct professional experience, the area of family law is particularly sensitive given that it deals with delicate and complex matters often involving children. I have previously acknowledged that there is a serious lack of information on family law cases. That is why, in the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 and in line with the Government's commitment on the in camera rule, I introduced a system whereby general trends and information relating to family law cases can be reported.

Section 40 of the Act provided for a relaxation of the in camera rule with the key safeguard that the confidential nature of family law cases would continue to be respected. Specificly, Section 40(3) provides that nothing in a relevant enactment shall operate to prohibit the preparation of a report of proceedings in family law cases or the publication of the decision of the court in those proceedings. It goes on to state that the identity of the parties to the case or any child to which the proceedings relate must not be disclosed. I consider this safeguard to be of particular importance given the increasing competitiveness in some elements of the media to sell copy while sometimes taking very little account of personal sensitivities. For this reason - and Carol and I have had many debates about this - I have constantly emphasised that I did not wish to see 'journalistic' reporting of family law cases.

In July 2005 I made the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004 Regulations in which I specified three classes of persons for the purposes of Section 40(3); namely accredited family mediators, persons engaged in family law research and persons engaged by the Court Service to prepare court reports of proceedings under relevant enactments. To date, under the Regulations, I have approved one family mediator and five persons engaged in family law research.

At this juncture, I should add that two issues need to be resolved so that the object of Section 40(3) is fulfilled effectively. It has become clear that Reports under the section would not attract absolute privilege and, for the purpose of reporting proceedings or publishing the decision of a court, it is unclear whether a reporter may have access to documentation in the proceedings such as pleadings and settlements. I plan to address the issue of absolute privilege in the Seanad this week by way of an amendment to the Defamation Bill and to make provision in the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006 to clarify the issue of access to documentation.

I was very pleased to be informed last summer that the Courts Service proposed to commence family law reporting arrangements on a pilot basis. Proposals were invited from suitable persons for the provision of family law reports, judgments, trends and other statistical information. The Courts Service has chosen extremely well in granting the contract for this groundbreaking project to Carol Coulter whose enthusiasm and expertise in this subject has no equal in her profession.

The Family Law Reporting Project involves collecting statistics, reports in trends and providing an overall view of the types of orders being made in family law courts. It also involves providing information to the judiciary, legal practitioners and the general public in relation to family law matters. I understand that in a thorough approach to the project, Carol has met with the Presidents of the courts, individual judges, practitioners and practitioner representative bodies and with staff. She has also visited the High Circuit and District Courts both in Dublin and around the country. The content of the Spring edition of Family Law Matters reflects her thoroughness and attention to detail and I must add that I am particularly impressed with the draft protocol for family law reporting. I look forward to future publications between now and the end of the pilot project. Carol's final evaluation report and recommendations upon completion of the pilot later this year will be particularly useful.

Reporting of general trends in family law cases must, of necessity, be based on a considerable number of such cases and this will take time to emerge. However this Report, alongside other research currently in progress, is the commencement of an information flow on family law cases which will greatly assist future policy formulation in the family law area. I am most grateful to have been invited to be here for this presentation and wish to take the opportunity to wish all present every success in their future endeavours.