Couples whose marriage has broken down are being offered an alternative to resolving disputes so they can avoid going to family law courts.
The Legal Aid Board has announced a new initiative which seeks to resolve family law matters, including divorce, separation and parenting disputes, by negotiation rather than have solutions imposed by the courts.
Frank Brady, director of Legal Aid, said yesterday the board was committed to the principles of collaborative practice.
There would be two main processes which couples could use. One was that the parties, with their solicitors, would engage in face-to-face meetings to negotiate a settlement. As that would not suit everybody, the Legal Aid Board was also piloting a structured negotiation process where the solicitors negotiated with each other on behalf of their clients rather that go to court. In this case, the parties would not necessarily have to meet face to face. This was the first major approach to setting up a collaborative process.
"There is life after separation, no matter how hard it may be for the parties to accept this at the time," Mr Brady said. "It is particularly important that the parties try to resolve their differences in a way that allows them to communicate and relate to one another in the future, especially where there are children involved. The collaborative process seeks to achieve that outcome following a break-up." He said the family law court systems were clogged up and if couples took part in the collaborative process, it would have a knock-on effect in the courts.