My open letter to the Scottish Parliament, itll also be going to every elected MSP, if any of you would like to help me in my fight please do take a copy and edit out the personal bits from me and contact your local MSP, the fight starts now Dear Sir/Madam, It has recently come to my attention the severity of the disfunction and inequality in our Family Law. It has always been a common understanding for me that our laws on this subject are not fit for purpose in a modern and more evolved democratic society, but the scale of the matter has been staggering, especially from a new fathers perspective. It’s estimated that there are over 174,000 lone parents, 3.34% of the entire populaton, with 295,000 children, 5.67% of the population, in Scotland (opfs.org.uk). Of these it is estimated 92% of single families are female led (Daily Mail) which in Scotland equates to 160, 080 fathers, approximately 3.07% of the population, whos rights are not currently protected and with a 24% growth of the single parent family from 2001-2011 (The Scotsman), by 2021 - and not taking into consideration the current trend towards having children out of wedlock - this figure would stand to be a minimum of 198,499, a staggering 3.82% of Scotlands entire population. As you can see this is an area which already affects a substantial number of our population directly (and even more indirectly with grandparents and other immediate family also embroiled in the matter), a figure which is only set to grow given current trends, all of whom are failed by the inadequacy of our current legislation. In an era where equal rights is being championed in all walks of life, and rightly so may I add, it strikes me as absurd that the notion only works in one direction. If a mother has a dispute with her childs father it is apparantly all too easy for her to simply say he is not the childs father and the mountain this raises in front of a man is enormous and extremely hard to climb just to prove he is what he says he is. I speak from my recent experiences with regards to this, having been frozen out as it were, and having also been informed by my solictors that the process I will have to endure will be a long and arduous one with no actual guarantees at the end of it. I have been informed that at no point will my childs mother be forced to submit him for DNA testing - even at the request of a court, which is ludicrous. In no other circumstances can an individual ignore the requests of a court without facing charges of contempt, so why should this be acceptable? Further to this I will also be forced to petition for Parental Rights and Responsibilities and to have time allocated to me to see my son. I do understand when these laws were put in place it was primarily to protect children from unfit parents, or at least I would hope this is the case, but in a modern society we have to understand that just because fathers are seperated from mothers doesnt mean they are unfit parents and should face obstacles at every single turn in their attempt simply to be part of their childs life. Additionally many studies have shown uncatagorically that it is far more benefitial for a child to have both parents involved in his/her life rather than one. It is clear then in our modern society the onus should be put firmly on the state and/or the mother of a child to prove a father unfit and therefore deny access rather than a father having to fight for the basic right to be in his own childss life. Conversely a problem also exists in that a woman can name any man she likes as a childs father even if she knows this to be false. This man would then be forced to fight a potentially long legal battle to prove otherwise. There is obviously a good basis to our judiciary system but such flaws cannot go uncorrected any longer. And to that end, this is my proposition: 1. When there is any kind of dispute over parentage of a child, upon the birth of that child whilst doing various other initial testing, a swab or hair sample should be taken and sent for DNA analysis along with that of any potential father to determine parentage immediately. Each concerned party should be required to submit to this by law. 2. Once parentage is determined, and should both parents be found to be fit and able to care for the child, full rights and responsibilities will be awarded to BOTH parents. This will include the duty of care and living arrangements either agreed by mutual consent or, as a last resort, a court order. 3. And perhaps my most important change in that if the court orders a DNA test, or anything else for that matter, then failure to comply with this request should be considered contempt of court. If we cannot rely on our legal system to fall back on then we simply have a lawless and anarchic society. I feel that implementation of these measures, or similar, will afford fathers more protection of their rights whilst still safeguarding those of the mother, and the child at the centre of it all. Not only this, but addressing the issue at birth and in the following weeks would avoid massive legal battles that can be extremely damaging for a child when its mother and father are seen to be fighting throughout the early developmental years. I believe that a change in the law in Scotland would once again show the world that we are at the forefront of legal undertanding, underlining our esteemed legal system and offering hope to fathers in nations who trail behind us in that sense, much like England, but also beyond. I trust that you will, as I do, feel that this is an issue that requires attention and must be rectified if we are to continue setting a legal example for the rest of the world to follow. It is my great hope that you can carry this cause on behalf of people like myself and enable changes to be made that ensure a brighter future for our nations children. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you very much for your time and I eagerly await your reply. Sincerely, Ron Park
Posted on: Wed, 04 Dec 2013 13:04:50 +0000
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