Family Law

Counselling

The Family Court runs a number of programmes to fulfil its mission of helping families in distress in a holistic manner. The programmes of the Family Court are run by the counsellors and psychologists of the Family and Juvenile Justice Centre (‘FJJC’).

This article sets out information on the various counselling programmes which are available in the Family Court.

Different Types of Counselling

Counselling programmes are the core work of the FJJC. Many different types of counselling are carried out there. It is important to understand what type of counselling your clients are attending and why such counselling has been ordered. This is because different ‘confidentiality agreements’ apply to the different types of counselling — that is to say, different judges will get to see the counselling notes, depending on which type of counselling session it is. It should also be noted that although there will be counselling notes for all cases sent for counselling, counselling reports will only be written for certain types of counselling sessions.

Divorce

There are two types of divorce counselling — reconciliation counselling and conciliation counselling.

• Reconciliation counselling — The purpose of reconciliation counselling is to try and reconcile the divorcing couple. Reconciliation counselling will usually only be ordered if both parties are keen on exploring reconciliation. The Pre-Trial Conference (‘PTC’) judge and the court mediator (‘the mediator’) will be able to see the counselling notes from a reconciliation counselling session, but the trial judge will not be able to.
• Conciliation counselling — The purpose of conciliation counselling for divorce is primarily to facilitate the amicable settlement between the parties of their divorce case — ie to get them to agree to an uncontested divorce. The PTC judge and mediator will be able to see the counselling notes from a conciliation counselling session, but the trial judge will not be able to.
  

Children

A great deal of the counselling work carried out by the FJJC is focused on children and child-related issues.

• Conciliation counselling for custody and access issues — The focus of conciliation counselling for custody and access issues will be to facilitate an agreement between the parties in respect of all the arrangements relating to the children of the marriage. The PTC judge and mediator will be able to see the counselling notes from such counselling sessions, but the trial judge will not be able to.
• Counselling to ascertain the children’s wishes — The focus of such counselling sessions are to ascertain the children’s wishes for the purposes of facilitating mediation sessions or to explore if a counselling report (ie a Social Welfare Report, Custody Evaluation Report or Access Evaluation Report, etc) is required. The PTC judge and mediator will be able to see the counselling notes from such sessions, but not the trial judge. To protect the children’s privacy and to encourage their full confidence, the children’s wishes will not be revealed to their parents.
• Counselling for the purpose of preparing a counselling report — Such counselling sessions will be carried out when a Custody Evaluation Report, Access Evaluation Report, Assisted Access or Assisted Transfer have been ordered.
  

The counselling notes from such sessions are not confidential. The trial judge will know what has transpired during the counselling sessions by reading the report prepared by the counsellor. However, to protect the children’s privacy and to encourage their full confidence, the children’s wishes will generally not be revealed to their parents. The parties and their counsel will also not be able to get a copy of the report.

• Facilitative counselling — On occasion, after an order for access is made by the court, or agreed to by the parties, the parties and the children may experience difficulties with the access sessions ordered. This may be for a variety of reasons — for example: (a) the non-custodial parent may not have seen the children for some time, thus leading to an emotional distance between him or her and the children; (b) the children may have taken the part of the custodial parent in the divorce proceedings and are, therefore, reluctant to see the non-custodial parent; or (c) continuing acrimony between the custodial and the non-custodial parent may cause the children to fear attending the access sessions.
  

In such cases, the court may order parties and the children to attend counselling sessions, in order to facilitate the access sessions between the non-custodial parent and the children.

Support counselling

• Support counselling for adults — Support counselling will be ordered if one of the parties to the divorce proceedings requests for it in order to help him or her deal with the grief and stress of the proceedings and other emotional issues. Where necessary, referrals to family service centres and other community organisations will be made for long-term counselling work. The notes from such sessions are confidential — usually only the PTC judge will see them.
• Support counselling for children — Support counselling is often ordered for children upon the request of one or more of the parties to the divorce proceedings, or if the court is of the view that the children appear to have been severely traumatised by the family breakdown. Such counselling is intended to help the children deal with their grief and distress at their parents’ divorce. Where necessary, referrals to family service centres and other community organisations will be made for long-term counselling work. The notes from such sessions are confidential — usually only the PTC judge will see them.
  

Family violence

Counselling in the family violence context takes place at three different stages — at the complaint stage, the mentions stage and the post-order stage.

• Counselling at the complaint stage — Intake counselling is done when applicants attend at the Family Transformation and Protection Unit in order to file complaints for personal protection orders. The intake counsellor will explain the cycle of violence¹ to the applicant and the impact of violence upon children, and will also go through safety plans with the applicant. If necessary, the applicant will be referred to other organisations, such as crisis shelters and medical clinics, for help.
• Counselling at the mentions stage — At the mentions stage, in a case where the respondent to a personal protection order has admitted to using family violence, counselling is conducted to emphasise that the use of violence is wrong and to get the respondent to admit this.
• Post-order mandatory counselling — After the court has granted a personal protection order in favour of a party, it may go on to order one or more parties to the proceedings (whether the applicant, the respondent or the children of the family) to attend mandatory counselling, which is conducted by the Ministry of Community Development and Sports (‘MCDS’).
  

Family Violence

Family Transformation and Protection Unit

The Family Transformation and Protection Unit is a section manned by counsellors of the FJJC to serve as a ‘one-stop centre’ for all family violence cases. The counsellors conduct intake counselling for all applicants for protection orders at the time of the application. They address the feelings of guilt, shame and uncertainty commonly experienced by victims of family violence, advise the applicants on safety issues, provide them with information on where they could seek help and make the necessary referrals to other institutions such as:

• crisis shelters;
• social service agencies;
• free medical clinic for documentation of any injuries;
• legal clinic for free legal advice; and
• police assistance to accompany the victims to retrieve their belongings from home.
  

The counsellors also conduct counselling with both parties when they turn up for the mention of the case (provided both parties consent to this). Issues such as the need for everyone to be accountable for his or her own actions, including acts of violence, and the fact that violent behaviour can be changed, will be discussed at these counselling sessions.

Applications made via video link

Members of the public who do not wish to attend at the Family Court to file their complaints for personal protection orders may do so via video link at the Family Service Centre nearest their home. Presently, three community agencies are video linked to the Family Court, namely Ang Mo Kio Family Service Centre (Promoting Alternatives to Family Violence (‘PAVE’)) in the north, TRANS Centre in the east and Loving Heart Multi-service Centre in the west. The video-link complaints are taken by the duty deputy registrar in Chamber B of the Family Court on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Video-linked trial

In some cases, the applicants for personal protection orders are fearful even to be in the same room as the alleged abusers. In some other cases, children may be involved as witnesses. If necessary, there are facilities for such vulnerable witnesses to testify at the family violence trial from a separate location (ie a counselling room in the Family Transformation and Protection Unit) via video link.

All lawyers — If you know that there are going to be child witnesses, or that your applicant is particularly fearful of the respondent, notify the Family Court One judge at the mention when the trial date is fixed, so that arrangements can be made by the court for the vulnerable witnesses to give evidence by way of video link.

Therapeutic justice — mandatory counselling

Some abusers of violence actually need help themselves in order to change their violent behaviour. Where the court has ordered that a person against whom a protection order has been granted should attend counselling, arrangements are made with the MCDS and the social service agencies with the necessary expertise to conduct this counselling. The aim is to rehabilitate the perpetrators of violence, and thereby to break the cycle of violence. Victims of family violence sometimes also need help to empower themselves to reduce the possible recurrence of violence against them in future. The court may, therefore, also order them to attend counselling after the grant of the protection orders and they will similarly be channelled to suitable programmes conducted by the MCDS and the social service agencies. Children who have been witnesses of family violence may also be ordered by the court to attend counselling. Children are given grief counselling and emotional support and taught that family violence is wrong. They are also taught about what they can do to help themselves and the people around them when they are caught in situations of family violence.

Provisional counselling order

Usually when the court makes a mandatory counselling order, it will make a provisional counselling order — that is, the matter will be fixed for a review on a certain date. In the meantime, counselling sessions will be conducted by MCDS, and a report will be written on the sessions, which will be sent to the court. At the review session, the court will then make further orders, depending on the outcome of the counselling sessions.

Endnote
 

A Quick Guide to Subordinate Courts Practice Directions and Registrar’s Circulars Applicable to Family Law Matters

The following practice directions and Registrar’s circulars have been issued by the subordinate courts in respect of matters relating to family law.

Main Practice Directions on Divorce, Matrimonial Causes and Guardianship of Infants Matters

Practice Direction No 1 of 1999 (Part VII) (The Subordinate Courts Practice Directions) (1999 Ed) (effective from 1 July 1999)

Part VII of this practice direction (which is a consolidation of earlier practice directions issued by the Subordinate Courts) refers to the setting up of a registry (‘the Family Registry’) for all proceedings under s 59 and Part X of the Women’s Charter (Cap 353, 1997 Ed) and the Guardianship of Infants Act (Cap 122) which were transferred to the Subordinate Courts pursuant to the Supreme Court of Judicature (Transfer of Matrimonial, Divorce and Guardianship of Infants Proceedings to District Court) Order made on 12 March 1996 (‘family matters’). It also contains guidelines on how to title the various documents filed in family matters, as well as where the documents should be filed. Guidelines in respect of such matters as appeals, parenting plans, matrimonial property plans, status conferences, pre-trial conferences, mediation, counselling, uncontested divorce matters, arrangements for the welfare of the children, draft consent orders and correspondence are also set out in this practice direction.

Practice Direction No 2 of 1999 (Proceedings Pursuant to Section 17A(2) of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act) (effective 1 August 1999)

This practice direction was issued in order to introduce some of the procedures adopted in the registry at the Family Division in relation to claims involving the custody and division of assets on divorce involving parties who are Muslims or married under the Muslim law. (Pursuant to the Administration of Muslim Law (Amendment) Act 1999 and s 17A(2) of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act.)

Tendering Draft Orders

Practice Direction No 2 of 2002 ((1) Draft Decrees Nisi (2) Draft Consent Orders for Ancillary Matters in Divorce Proceedings) (effective 1 July 2002)

This practice direction sets out the procedures to be complied with in order to facilitate the extraction of the decree nisi granted at the hearing of the uncontested divorce petition and to expedite the hearings of consent orders in matters relating to the custody of children, access to them, maintenance, division of matrimonial assets or other ancillary matters.

Extraction of Orders

Registrar’s Circular No 3 of 2000 (Documents Required for the Extraction of Decree Nisi Absolutes/Decree Nisis and Orders of Court) (effective 2 January 2001)

This circular sets out the documents which solicitors are required to submit when seeking to extract decrees nisi absolute, decrees nisi and orders of court, in order to facilitate the expeditious processing of the same at the Family Registry.

Adoption Proceedings and the Electronic Filing System

Practice Direction No 5 of 2002 (Extension of Electronic Filing to Adoption Proceedings)

The Electronic Filing Service has been extended to adoption proceedings with effect from 9 December 2002. This practice direction sets out the procedure to be complied with in respect of adoption proceedings for adoption petitions filed on or after 9 December 2002. It provides, inter alia, that certain documents such as the adoption petition and some orders of court in adoption proceedings may be filed by completing and submitting an electronic template, without the need to file the document in Portable Document Format. The practice direction also provides for the filing of an affidavit in support of the adoption petition upon the issuance of the adoption petition, the service of documents on the guardian ad litem, as well as the submission of the original birth certificate of the infant before the hearing.

Substituted Service/Dispensed Service

Practice Direction No 4 of 2000 (Applications for Substituted Service/Dispensation of Service for Divorce Petitions) (effective 2 January 2001)

This practice direction sets out the circumstances in which an order for substituted service or dispensation of service of the divorce petition will be made, as well as the nature of evidence required for affidavits in support of applications for substituted service or dispensation for divorce petitions.

Signing of Documents for Surrender, Sale or Transfer of Matrimonial Assets

Registrar’s Circular No 2 of 2002 (Applications Made at the Family Court Pursuant to an Order of Court Empowering the Registrar/Deputy Registrar of the Subordinate Courts to Sign Documents on Behalf of a Party to Divorce Proceedings) (effective 28 October 2002)

This circular sets out the documents which must be tendered by applicants seeking the Registrar’s signature on documents to affect the surrender, sale or transfer of matrimonial assets pursuant to an order of court empowering the Registrar to sign the relevant documents.

Appeals on Ancillary Matters or Custody Matters from the Family Court to the High Court

Supreme Court Practice Direction No 6 of 2000 (Appeals on Ancillary Matters or Custody Matters from the Family Court to the High Court)

This practice direction sets out the documents which have to be filed prior to the hearing of an appeal against a final order made by a district judge in chambers on ancillary matters in divorce proceedings under the Women’s Charter, or custody proceedings under the Guardianship of Infants Act. The documents the parties are required to file are intended to facilitate the conduct of the appeal hearing before the judge of the High Court in chambers.

Lim Hui Min
Deputy Registrar
Family and Juvenile Court