A referendum is being planned for 2014 to start off the process, the Justice Minister Alan Shatter has said. A new two-tier system is to be created, according to The Independent. The lower court would  handle family law and childcare issues; the upper court would have unlimited jurisdiction for all family matters, including adoption and child abduction. The government envisages that the new system will take 'some years' to construct.

Sensitive cases

Mr Shatter told a Law Society conference: 'Family breakdown and parenting disputes are particularly sensitive and painful and their determination involves completely different skills from those required to hear a criminal trial or adjudicate in civil and commercial matters.'
The minister also attacked the ban on press reporting of family cases. His department is currently working to reform that prohibition.