The Gazette 1973

responsibility will then fall on the tribunal to make a decision on such matters as custody of the children, maintenance, etc. We recommend that the court or tribunal hearing the case have power to adjourn at any stage if it thinks there is a possibility of the parties becoming reconciled, though we find from our experiences that the estrange- ment of the parties will be far too deep at this stage for a reconciliation to be possible. At the same time, so as to prevent people from rush- ing into and out of marriage without giving it a chance of being a successful union, we recommend that it be provided that no Petition for divorce or separation be entertained by the court during the first three years of marriage except in very exceptional cases. We unequivocally recommend the setting up of a Family Welfare Council, headed by a Family Welfare Commissioner, staffed by trained and qualified social workers, to be known as family counsellors, who would be concerned only with family and marital problems. They could work in cooperation with existing volun- tary and statutory bodies, and organisations. The Council would establish Family Welfare Centres, and would be publicised as much as possible. The service would, of course, be confidential. On request, the Counsellors would call on families in need of support. The first suggestion considered by us was the setting up of a family tribunal which would have two divisions. One would deal with juvenile matters and the other with all other family matters. Either the tribunal would be presided over by a judge assisted by two family counsellors, or by a family counsellor (or two) assisted on matters of law by a barrister or solicitor of a sufficient number of years standing, known as the Judge Advocate. Each tribunal would have power to make any of the decrees mentioned in the section on substantive law. In addition it would have the power to refer the parties to the Family Welfare Council if it thinks reconcilia- tion possible. As a matter of urgency it is recommended that in- stead of the above system, but only as an interim measure, family divisions be created in each of the present courts, the presiding judge being under legal obligations vis-a-vis reconciliation and family coun- sellors, or welfare officers in the present system. ABOLISH THE J UVENI LE COURTS The abolition of the present system of juvenile courts and their replacement by locally based children's panels, with a right to appeal to the Juvenile Court, is called for in the FLAC report. Immediate reforms recommended should provice that I, no child should be prosecuted for any offence except at the suit of the Attorney General and on his instruc- tions (through the Office of the Chief State Solicitor). 2. The age of criminal responsibility should be in- creased to 14 years immediately. In the long term we would hope to see the introduction of the Scottish system of children's panels. 3. Greater use should be made of the so called "fit person" order. This should be extended in scope to include those institutions which already offert horough facilities for catering for the special needs of children. Locally based child care services and family welfare services should also be included. The scheme should cater for children of up to 17 years. In this way children whose special needs are not being best served by Industrial Schools and Reformatories within the

present system would be brought within a beneficial system of care. Long Term Reforms A. The Repeal of the Children Act 1908 and the introduction of the following reforms : 1. The abolition of the present system of juvenile courts and their replacement by locally based children's panels, with a right of appeal to the Juvenile Court. 2. Reports on family and environmental factors to be made available in all cases. 3. No child should continue to be subject to a custo- dial sentence for any time longer than is necessary in his interest. No sentence should remain in force with- out review for a period extending beyond one year. 4. Where the child wishes to appeal, lie should have three weeks within which to do so, and not 14 days as at present. 5. In the future, recognising the values of the CARE proposals, we woyld envisage the setting up of a system of panels of lay people to deal with children along the lines of those in operation in Scotland as a result of the recommendations of the Kilbrandon Com- mittee. Such panels would have powers of ordering compulsory care or treatment, and would have con- tinuing responsibility for the children brought before them, and would replace the existing system of Chil- dren's Courts. We would suggest that an official to be known as a Reporter would be appointed to decide whether or not the circumstances warranted the bringing of the child before the panel. He would also organise the panels, arrange hearings, ensure the execution of decisions and their review at the appropriatet ime. There should be but one Government department to deal with children's affairs, their education, training, mcare and welfare, formed by the merger of the three existing departments with responsibility over various spheres . . . Health, Social Welfare and Justice . . . and the organisations such as the I.S.P.C.C. concerned with children's welfare and special needs. This department, to be known as the Child Welfare Department, would provide all necessary facilities. If this is not done, the present Government Department will continue to "pass the buck" as at present. " SUBS IDI SE CIVIL CASES" It was not in the criminal sphere that the need for publicly subsidised legal aid was greatest but in the civil cases that such a need was acute, said Senator Pro- fessor Kelly, at a public meeting in a Dublin hotel last night, organised by the Free Legal Advice Centres. Senator Kelly said that in the criminal sphere even before 1962 when the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Act was passed, it was a point of honour with the legal profession that no accused person should be left without defending counsel even if he was not able to pay the fee. In civil cases, however, the State offered no help at all to poor people. "The Free Legal Advice Centres have now provided this assistance for the first time : yet another example of how in this "country private goodwill and charity is expected to make up for the deficiencies of the social services, still inadequate to the needs of the poor, the ignorant, the handicapped and the delinquent, he said. Over the last six or seven years, the Irish Courts, among a series of highly important and progressive judgments, had clearly established the individual's right 44