Madam, - In his column of April 2nd John Waters incorrectly criticises Dr Carol Coulter, who has been engaged by the Courts Service to conduct its pilot project on family law reporting. He writes that, in addressing a conference, she pressed for a certain approach to be taken in relation to obtaining the views of children in family law cases, and that she criticised a judge for not upholding such an approach.
I have been informed that Mr Waters was not present at the conference, and that he seriously misrepresents what Dr Coulter said at it. The Courts Service is concerned that, in writing as he did, Mr Waters is impugning the independence of Dr Coulter and the integrity of the Courts Service pilot project.
The project was established to provide information for the judiciary, legal practitioners, the media, researchers and the public on family law proceedings. It was enabled by the Civil Liability and Courts Act 2004, which modified the in camera rule in family law proceedings. This allowed people engaged by the Courts Service for the purpose of preparing reports, among others, to attend family law proceedings.
The Courts Service advertised for a person or persons to provide this service on a pilot basis. After a rigorous public procurement process, including the submission of proposals and interviewing of candidates, Dr Coulter was selected to do this work.
It has involved examining court records and attending family law proceedings to prepare and publish reports and statistics. The project does not involve criticism of judicial decisions or advocating any policy in relation to family law.
In her first report, Family Law Matters, published just over a month ago, Dr Coulter presented reports of cases from a number of courts, judgments, and an analysis of a month's decisions in Dublin Circuit Court. The report was warmly welcomed by the Chief Justice of Ireland, the board of the Courts Service, the Minister for Justice, members of the judiciary, legal practitioners and the media.
The Courts Service has been, and continues to be, totally satisfied with Dr Coulter's independence and the probity of her work. We greatly regret that Mr Waters has found it necessary to mount such a personal attack on our reporter and, through that, on our project which is not even half-way through. When it has been completed and the final report is published we will welcome constructive discussion with all those interested in objective and accurate reporting of family law. - Yours, etc,
PJ FITZPATRICK, Chief Executive Officer, The Courts Service, Phoenix Street North, Smithfield, Dublin 7.