Cyprus parliamentary committee begins reviewing family law reform
The Legal Affairs Committee of Cyprus’s House of Representatives has begun reviewing a bill to modernize family law, which is intended to place the best interests of the child at the center of family disputes. The initiative is part of a reform consisting of eight bills, Cyprus Mail reports.
Committee chair Fotini Tsiridou said the changes are necessary given the number of divorces and family disputes in Cyprus. According to her, the legislative framework needs to be updated so that the child’s interests always remain a priority.
Protection of children and parental equality
The bill, which the committee has begun reviewing article by article, concerns relations between parents and children. The proposed provisions envisage stronger protection for children affected by domestic violence, as well as the possibility of receiving counselling, psychological assessments and other support.
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The reform is also intended to ensure equality between parents, a fairer distribution of responsibilities and financial burdens. It also provides for counselling programmes for parents and stronger procedures for determining child support payments.
Social services team
The document contains provisions for cases in which a child becomes alienated from one of the parents. To protect children from physical and psychological violence, authorities plan to establish an interdisciplinary team coordinated by the Social Welfare Services.
The bill also strengthens the requirement to take the child’s views into account according to their age and level of maturity. Tsiridou noted that the proposed approach complies with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. According to her, the committee hopes to complete the discussion in the coming weeks, after which the document may be put to a vote at a plenary sitting of the House of Representatives.
