Book Review: Family Court — The Legal Jungle
| Author | Jocelynne A Scutt |
| DOI | 10.1177/000486588501800212 |
| Published date | 01 June 1985 |
| Date | 01 June 1985 |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
BOOK
REVIEWS 125
construction is
not
just an interesting intellectual game,
but
arigorous disciplined
exercise which defines the parameters of research and heightens
our
understanding
of
the
offender's interaction with society.
Shoemaker's work provides a basic overview of
the
nature
of the various
theoretical shifts underpinning criminology, but not the reasons for these occurring.
Melbourn!
DEIDRE
GREIG
Family
Court
~
The Legal Jungle, Patrick Tennison. Published by Patrick Tennison
Enterprises, Melbourne, $7.95.
The
1980s have seen what has been described by some as a "disturbing
trend"
in
the
family law arena: anumber of violent outbreaks directed against
the
Family
Court
in the form of bombings and a shooting, the
end
result in two cases being
untimely deaths.
The
most immediate reaction of authorities has
been
to increase
security at court premises and of judges of the court. Reading Family Court -The
Legal Jungle adds to the misgivings this writer has as to
the
appropriateness -
and
the
ultimate value - of this response.
Family Court -The Legal Jungle is an odd
book
-
one
that
can rightly be
criticized. Statements of various actors in the Family
Court
are
quoted
without
comment
-leading
the reader to believe
that
Patrick Tennison accepts
the
intrinsic
worth (in face value terms) of those statements.
Examples:-
"Our
most important role is
that
we do provide some protection for
the
kids of
marriage breakdowns. We give the court an impartial view. No other person can
do that. Lawyers acting for the parents present the different views of individual
parents. Our view is the fairer
one."
A counsellor
"In
many people going to the court the real problem is their madness -it's as
simple asthat. Legally, what they do is not regarded as madness,
but
it's madness
just the same.
And
I
don't
think courts are the right places to churn
out
decisions
based on evidence given by mad people."
A psychiatrist
"It
was a decidedly nasty case. Several times I wondered if
I'd
spent six years
studying law only to have to
end
up arguing strange issues like the ones posed
here.
It's
not
at all what I see law as being about. I know many lawyers
make
a
very good living
out
of it.
But,
me?
I'd
rather deal with murderers,
bank
robbers
and drug pushers any day." A lawyer
In Tennison's view, the way to solve the problems currently being encountered
by the Family Court and at the Family Court
include:-
*abolishing the
"no
fault" provisions of the Family
Law
Act
(the problem being
seen as being
that
"legally no offence has
been
committed by
one
party on the
other
when, in fact, very often aquite serious offence has
been
committed.
When
this occurs, however, the offender is
not
treated
as an offender and the
party who is a victim of the offence is treated equally with
the
offender"
*making proceedings
open
to the public through media and
other
reporting as
well as allowing
the
public to attend hearings
*empowering judges to impose court costs on litigants whose cases occupy a
deal of the time of the court and its staff
*some form of special training in family law matters to be available for all
judges accepting appointments to the Family Court.
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