LettersBill to protect children’s interests in divorce cases deserves its day in Legislative Council

We have just celebrated Mother’s Day and should acknowledge the extensive role played by parents in raising happy and healthy children. It is of utmost importance that our judicial system acknowledges the interests and rights of our next generation.

Reform of the child custody and access arrangements under Hong Kong’s family law has been under discussion since the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child was extended to Hong Kong in 1994. In 2005, such reform was recommended by the Law Reform Commission. However, the Children Proceedings (Parental Responsibility) Bill has yet to be submitted to the Legislative Council for deliberation and implementation.

The bill mainly aims to change the principles on which judgments are made in divorce cases, ensuring that all judges in such cases act in accordance with the protection of children’s interests. There is already consensus on the bill among the city’s legal and social service sectors.

Moving away from child custody and access towards the child-focused concept of joint parental responsibility is more in line with the provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Similar legislation was introduced in the United Kingdom and other common law jurisdictions as early as 1989.

The last discussion of the bill in the Legislative Council was at the meeting of the Panel on Welfare Services in March 2018. However, during the discussion, there was a significant misinterpretation that it was intended to increase assistance to welfare agencies. The government mentioned the establishment of relevant social welfare-supporting measures such as the proposed Pilot Project on Children Contact Service, which aims to strengthen premarital and divorce counselling or mediation services, establish a one-stop specialised service for divorced families, and set up a maintenance board.