A few things that every Indian should know about The Family Court Act, 1984

Submitted by asandil on 2/14/2014

The legal machinery that works upon the matters related to matrimonial disputes, custody of children and maintenance for wife and kids is known as Family Court. Going back into the history, the first family court in the world was established in the United States in the year 1910. In India, the Central Govt. enacted the Family Court Act in the year 1984 keeping in view the need for quick settlement of family disputes.

It was in the year 1975 when both the report of 59th law commission and the status of Women Committee appealed to the Central Government to enact a separate judicial forum to settle the domestic disputes as quickly as possible. As a result, The Family Court Act, 1984 came into existence in India. The Act states provision for establishing a family court in the land where total population crosses the limits of one million, and also in the areas where the State Govt. considers it necessary. Any State Government can take decision of establishing a Family Court after seeking advice from the concerned High Court.

The Family Court Act, 1984 empowers each and every State Government to establish a Family Court wherever it thinks necessary and allows to appoint concerned judges in all categories as per the procedure prescribed in the Act. Before appointing a person as a Judge, it is necessary for the State Govt. to check whether the concerned person has gained at least 7 years of work experience in the judicial service in India. The Act further states that the post of a judge in a family court should preferably be occupied by a woman so that better deliveries of justice can be ensured particularly in the cases of ladies.

The Family Court occupies the same status as that of a District Court and is equally empowered to exercise the jurisdiction accordingly. If a family court sees any possibility of settlement between two parties, it stops proceedings immediately and tries to settle the issue as early as possible. A Family Court, in the cases of Divorce, acts with high sensitivity and gives decisions with great judiciousness.

The need for settling Family Courts was actually the result of rapidly-increasing incidents of domestic violence, atrocities against women and a great degree of social injustice done to women in their domestic domain of life. Now, the suffering women can move to Court with their issues and demand justice. This Act has not only taught women to live a life with respect but also empowered them to get what they deserve. Now there are provisions under which a woman can never face a loss on any front of domestic life. Be it an issue related to children, her rights in property or any other domestic matter, justice is sure to be delivered to her. From time to time, our government has been making some essential amendments in this Act to make it more relevant with the changing trends.