Allow judges to conduct divorce hearings without warring parties present, committee proposes

SINGAPORE — Allow judges in divorce proceedings to conduct hearings based on filed papers, without divorcing parties or their lawyers in attendance, to reduce the acrimony involved in such proceedings.

This was among a raft of recommendations proposed by a committee tasked to look into ways to reduce bitter family disputes and safeguard the interests of children.

Speaking to the media at the Ang Mo Kio Family Service Centre on Thursday (Sept 19), Minister for Social and Family Development Desmond Lee noted that divorces have a “tremendous impact” not only on the couple but on their young children as well.

Among the 7,000 divorces annually in Singapore, at least half involve one child below the age of 21.

As such, the committee focused on weaving in “therapeutic and restorative principles” into how divorce proceedings are carried out, he said.

The nine-member committee is made up of representatives from the Social and Family Development and Law ministries, as well as the Family Justice Court.

The recommendations were submitted to the ministries last Friday (Sept 13), following consultations with stakeholders such as judges, lawyers and professionals in the field of social sciences.

These are the recommendations:

ALLOW JUDGES TO CONDUCT HEARINGS BASED ON FILED PAPERS

This would remove the need for divorcing parties or their counsels to attend, reducing acrimony involved in the proceedings.

The committee also recommended simplifying court processes in the Family Justice Court. For instance, a single claim form may be introduced for parties to apply for proceedings such as divorce applications, child orders and other interim applications.

CLARIFY THE SCOPE OF A JUDGE’S POWERS TO INTERVENE

Mr Lee said that judges needed to be empowered during divorce proceedings to ensure that disputes did not become “a zero-sum game”. If disputes were allowed to drag, then the impact on children can be very long lasting, he added.

While judges have been more proactive since 2014 to expedite proceedings, the report submitted by the committee noted that more clarity was needed on the scope of their powers.

REQUIRE DIVORCING PARTIES TO OBTAIN COURT’S PERMISSION TO FILE APPLICATIONS

Currently, divorce proceedings may be drawn out due to the filing of multiple applications. To ensure that applications which detract from important issues are weeded out, parties must obtain the court’s permission “in appropriate circumstances” to file applications, said the report.

BROADEN ENFORCEMENT REGIME FOR CHILD ACCESS ORDERS

While sanctions currently exist for those who breach access orders, the committee said they are “fairly draconian” and “not easy to obtain”. For instance, parents who have been denied access to their children may commence “committal proceedings”, which allow the court to punish parties who do not comply with court orders. However, this process can be time consuming as it involves multiple procedures and facilitates little access to the aggrieved party.

To promote compliance with child access orders, the committee recommended that the court order defaulting parents to attend educational programmes which emphasise the negative impact of access disputes on children. It also suggested that judges send parties for mediation to address the underlying reason for denying access to children.

BOOST SUPPORT FOR DIVORCING COUPLES

One suggestion is to enhance the Mandatory Parenting Programme for divorcing parties with children under 21. The current programme covers generic content related to financial planning after divorce and the impact of divorce on children.

If approved, the programme will include more personalised tools such as self-assessments on marital satisfaction and child safety.

An online platform may also be introduced to consolidate relevant information — on housing and finance, for instance — across various government agencies for the benefit of parties considering divorce. Mr Lee said this would help couples “pause and consider whether they want to go for marriage recovery”, or if they decide to proceed with the divorce, understand the impact of their decisions on themselves and their children.

MORE ACCESS TO COUNSELLING SERVICES

This is before parties file for divorce to help them manage their emotions and prevent further escalation of conflict.

The committee also recommended that more be done to encourage couples to go through mediation before filing for divorce. This could help parties to resolve divorce matters with lower acrimony and make decisions based on their child’s interest.

The public will be able to provide its feedback on the recommendations on the Reach website (go.gov.sg/rerf) from Friday to Nov 1, following which the ministries will decide what aspects of the recommendations to accept.