Crossroads and Consequence

We stood at the crossroads. I'm trying to finish it in a hurry and will never write about this topic again.

Here's a bit of it:

CONSEQUENCE

The changes were not accepted with good heart by the court; and this reluctance to accept reform was no more clearly evidenced than at their great tribal gathering in 2006, the National Family Law Conference held in Perth.

The retiring Justice Richard Chisholm, who had done much to set the tone of the court, showed how little regret for past practice was in play when he declared of the reforms:

"The ultimate goal has to remain the same: to do what's best for kids. So, we might see a lot of change in the way a case is presented, but the outcome should be the same as under old system."

On the final day of the conference, the Hon Richard Chisholm started the morning session with a song about the Family Law Act amendments.He sang with gusto to the tune of "On Top of Old Smokey" (better known as the "I Lost My Poor Meatball" song):

"It seems rather blokey the men won the fights

but now they all tell us

it's about childrens' rights ...

We struggle to read it,

we mutter and moan,

by the time that we've read it,

the kids have left home ...

I studied one section, got it into my head,

but it only told me what another section said..."

The ditty caused some offence; and indeed it is impossible to imagine a family court judge singing a song that ridiculed mothers without causing immense outrage - much less applause, as in this case.

Legal News Service CCH went on to report that Chisolm said it was the job of the court and practitioners to apply the law and not be guessing what government wanted: "We know quite a bit of what the government intended, but then we have the legislation".

No truer words, of course, as critics had pointed out. Male litigants who had appeared before him were often critical; but a lifetime in the shrouds of importance did not lend to humility. The power play between the various branches of government was never more clearly displayed.

Chisholm cautioned practitioners to be careful about making the intention of government and the law the same thing.

"At times of crises there's a lot to be said about orthodoxy; it's our job to administer the law."

(Reference: 27 October 2006: Hot potatoes, obesity and politics in family law reform. By Melinda Chiew, CCH senior writer.)