(c) NZZ Online April 8, 2011
Legal Commission of the National Council increases the pressure on Sommaruga.
The federal government should revise parental custody as quickly as possible. The National Council's Legal Commission is demanding this with a motion. The Commission is also responding to the demands of men's organizations.
(sda) The National Council's Legal Commission is increasing the pressure for a rapid revision of parental custody. In doing so, she adopts the demands of men's organizations.
With a motion, the Legal Commission wants to instruct the Federal Council to submit a revision of parental custody and the legal relationships between parents and children, as the parliamentary services announced on Friday.
Two-part proposal required
In a first phase, the Federal Council should quickly enshrine shared parental custody as a rule in law. In doing so, the Federal Council should be guided by the preparatory work that was carried out based on the consultation template. Only in a second phase will the Justice Department develop a new regulation of the maintenance and care laws of unmarried, separated or divorced parents.
Eliminating inequalities
In the opinion of the Legal Commission, the focus of the reform should be the child's well-being and a cooperation-oriented approach by parents. Inequalities that exist today should be eliminated.
The commission, which recommended the motion to be adopted by its council with 15 votes to 2 and 3 abstentions, calls on the Federal Council to take up the proposal immediately. With its decision, the commission is increasing the pressure on Federal Councilor Simonetta Sommaruga to quickly resolve the issue of custody.
Round table on Friday
The Minister of Justice announced in mid-January that she wanted to also regulate maintenance law issues in the submission on shared parental custody. This expansion is intended to improve the situation of the parent who primarily looks after the child. She promised a message for 2012.
Representatives of fathers' organizations harshly criticized this decision and even organized a vigil in front of the Federal Palace. Sommaruga then invited representatives of these organizations to talk. Next Friday she is organizing a round table on these questions with representatives of various mothers', fathers', family and child protection organizations.