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SINGAPORE — Laws governing how matrimonial assets will be divided — often a hotly contested issue in divorce cases — could be reviewed under an ongoing study to further develop family law jurisprudence.
Speaking at the Family Justice Courts’ (FJC) annual workplan seminar on Wednesday (February 28), Presiding Judge Debbie Ong said an inter-agency committee has been formed to “review and enhance reforms in the family justice system”.
Without elaborating, she singled out a section under the Women’s Charter providing for the courts to order the division of matrimonial assets as an “area for possible review”.
Among other things, the review committee, co-chaired by Justice Ong, Mr Ng How Yue and Mr Chew Hock Yong — the permanent secretaries of the Ministry of Law, and the Ministry of Social and Family Development respectively — will look at promoting alternative approaches to conflict resolution, reducing the cost of proceedings, and strengthening access to family justice.
The level of protection women here are entitled to in divorce-related issues has been a subject of perennial debate. Currently, the courts take into account several factors in dividing contested assets, including each party’s financial contributions towards the assets, non-financial contributions towards the family’s welfare, their needs after the divorce and who has been granted custody of their children, if any.
In a judgement in March last year, the Court of Appeal recognised that such a “structured approach” may not be applicable to single-income marriages as it would unduly favour the working spouse, at the expense of the other party.
It held that such an outcome was inconsistent with the courts’ recognition of marriage as an equal partnership where both financial and non-financial contributions are equally crucial.
In another case which Justice Ong presided over last year, she ruled that single-income marriages should also include situations where one spouse was “primarily the breadwinner and the other primarily the homemaker”, and not just those where the homemaker “did not work at all”.
Following the last amendments to the Women’s Charter passed in Parliament in February 2016, a woman must now provide for her husband or ex-husband, should he be unable to work because of physical or mental disabilities or illness.
On the FJC’s work in general, Justice Ong said the courts’ intervention should be the “last resort” for disputing families. The FJC has a “broader role” than conventional courts, she added, because the cases they handle often involve children, she said.
“On the one hand, the law should not be quick to intrude at every turn into family relationships which are so intimate and private in character, thus we should encourage rather than force good behaviour,” said Justice Ong.
However, family law has a “pedagogical” role, she noted. “Family law is ‘interventionist’ to some extent, demanding parties to cooperate for the welfare of their children,” she said.
About half of the divorce cases were concluded under the “simplified track” with no contested issues last year, up from 24 per cent in 2015. Last year, almost seven in 10 divorce cases were fully resolved through mediation.
Facilities for online mediation will be built up to allow more harmonious resolutions. For a start, the FJC will look at applying this for child maintenance claims. It aims to help parties compute the possible outcomes of a maintenance claim and provide an online forum for parties to negotiate between themselves.
To enhance access to justice, the FJC is exploring assistance schemes to help those in the “sandwich class” who require legal support but have financial difficulties obtaining it. Law students could be roped in to assist lawyers in supporting this group of people. It is also studying how to better support “vulnerable segments” of users, including the elderly, as they navigate through court processes.
https://www.todayonline.com/singapo...l-assets-under-womens-charter-may-be-reviewed
