The Government was yesterday urged to follow the example of the British government and enact legislation that would improve the situation of unmarried fathers of children to allow them custody rights under the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction.
The chairman of the Cork branch of the Family Lawyers Association, Colm Roberts, said the G case had advanced the rights of unmarried fathers in respect of foreign abductions somewhat but it still fell far short of the rights accorded unmarried fathers in the UK.
"Really, if you want to improve the rights of unmarried fathers, you need legislative change - like they did in the UK with the 2003 Act which basically changed it because up until then UK used to be very similar to Ireland," said Mr Roberts.
"If you are registered as the father on the birth cert in the UK, you have parental responsibility which is the same concept as guardianship here and then if the child is taken, you have the immediate protections of the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction.
"In Ireland, in contrast, the natural father, unless he is the guardian or has issued proceedings for guardianship, he has no such protection," Mr Roberts told the seventh annual conference of University College Cork's Law Society.
Yesterday's conference entitled "Contemporary Challenges in Irish Constitutional Law" with a special focus on family law in Ireland, also heard family law practitioner Ann Fitzgerald outline the need for reform to give a statutory basis to pre-nuptial agreements.
One of the most interesting features of the recent Irish Times survey "What Women Want" was the relatively high percentage of women - 44pc - who said they believed anyone getting married should enter into a pre-nuptial agreement (PNA), said Ms Fitzgerald. She pointed out that the Study Group Report, a group appointed by the then minister for justice Michael McDowell in April 2007, recommended that PNAs be given statutory recognition in both the Family Law Act 1995 and the Family Law (Divorce) Act 1996.
At present, the 1996 Act provides for courts to have regard to the terms of any separation agreement entered into by the spouses and still in force. The Study Group Report recommended that a new section should be included regarding PNAs.
