Topic > Difficult Phenomena of Single Parent Families and the Need for Reform in Guardian/Family Courts

Since the 1990s there has been a major change in the mindset of men, women and families towards continuing a bad marriage. Attitudes towards divorce, second marriages and single parenthood have changed dramatically since then, yet the courts have been unable to address this phenomenon through adequate reform. As there has been a notable increase in these cases with around a million or more cases pending in the family and guardianship courts of Pakistan. This scale of pending litigation is due to the weakness of legal reforms, the inefficiency of case management systems and the lack of understanding on the part of judges regarding single-parent families. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Going to court for a family and/or guardian is nothing but a trauma or an absolute nightmare for any litigant/parent. The reason is that they are not aware of the judicial procedures, they are misled and they are not ready for the delays and inadequacy of the so-called "help" granted to them. Strangely these delays appear to be outside the control of the courts themselves and have been for the past three decades. The key issues in single parent cases are custody and support, and these cases take at least two years or more to decide. Meanwhile, as a temporary arrangement, very low maintenance is imposed on fathers, which puts mothers at a complete disadvantage, while the father enjoys visitation rights. There are some disturbing statistics about the backlog and overload of judges in these courts. Statistics at the Guardian Court Lahore show that 7 Guardian Judges deal with 9,484 new cases and 16 Family Court Judges deal with 16,215 new cases per year. There are already 25699 cases pending in these courts. Additionally, both guardianship and family judges are required to hear other civil matters such as probate cases. As a result, on average each judge handles at least 1000 cases per year. How can there be justice if judges are overworked? resulting in applying the same court orders in most cases without going into the distinctive factors of each case, which is very important for the dispensation of justice. Custody disputes are the most volatile cases in the Guardian courts, with an average of 18,000 cases filed annually in Lahore alone. There are 156 districts and 404 tehsils with Guardian courts and as per a rough estimate, nearly one million Guardian cases are filed every year and almost the same number of such cases are already pending in Guardian courts across the country. These are a serious number of custody/family cases, yet both the judiciary and the government appear unaware of the seriousness of these matters and the related child/family welfare issues. Urgent reforms are needed to manage rapid disposal and reduce this backlog for the well-being of families. There is a dire need to establish separate complexes for family and guardianship courts where all facilities for child visitation are provided. Most parents are willing to give up their visitation rights as they refuse to meet children in poor conditions in the current court premises. . Another issue involves complying with the court's visitation schedule, which is a nightmare for the custodial parent. Visits are generally used as a blackmail tactic by the father, who may continually violate the visitation schedule.