Legal jolt likely over custody issues

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Christchurch earthquake

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The earthquake is throwing up challenging custody issues for the courts, as some parents take children out of the city without authority.

Under normal circumstances, separated parents must obtain consent from the other parent before they can move their children to another town or city, but, in the weeks since Christchurch's devastating quake, some parents have hurriedly moved their children without obtaining consent or an order from the court.

Lawyer and family law expert Scott Fairclough said, since the quake, the courts had been dealing with two types of cases - the genuinely distressed and those who were using the quake to justify moving.

"You've got the people who wouldn't have moved but for the earthquake, and you've got the ones who have wanted to move and who have used the earthquake as the launching pad," said Fairclough.

His advice to separated parents thinking of taking their children out of Christchurch was that they should get the consent of the other parent or make an application to the courts to avoid legal wranglings.

"If they relocate without doing that they risk a judge making an order that the child, or the children, return. That doesn't require the parent to return, just the children, but obviously if the children return to Christchurch without that parent they will effectively be in the care of the other parent," he said.

All Christchurch court buildings have been closed since last month's quake but urgent Family Court matters are being dealt with at temporary facilities.

Jury trials and scheduled hearings in Christchurch have been postponed until further notice, while essential criminal and youth justice matters are being dealt with through the Rangiora District Court.

A Justice Ministry official said while most of Christchurch's court facilities had been moved out of the red zone into the orange zone of the CBD, there were still some major logistical challenges to overcome before court sessions could resume in the buildings.

"We are much more hopeful that we will be able to return to our buildings earlier than we anticipated. But that optimism has to be balanced with what services and amenities are available and how much clean-up work is required to provide a safe workplace," said Andrew Hampton.

"While the Environment Court building has been red-stickered, most of our other buildings are green-stickered. That means we can begin the tidy up and remedial work as soon as we have access.

"A number of other buildings in the vicinity are categorised as red, so in terms of being able to provide safe public access, we have to factor that in.

"It is an ever-changing environment in Christchurch, so we will continue to work with the judiciary, the legal profession and our fellow justice sector agencies to make sure there are realistic expectations around what is possible in the coming months."

- © Fairfax NZ News

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