Murali Pillai on Family Justice Reform Bill

The legislative process must work to protect the interests of all parties, said MP Murali Pillai. Speaking in Parliament on Monday (May 8), he pointed out that the ties that bind husband and wife can be severed by divorce proceedings but the ties that bind a citizen to his fellow men and country remain. He stressed that Singapore’s laws must provide for these less intimate, but paradoxically more enduring, connection in the pursuit of family justice. Mr Murali also sought clarifications on the Bill. One relates to the need to give judges greater ambit to decide on key matters that protect public interest, as well as the interest of the vulnerable parties, such as children. He highlighted the need to align the interests of parents with those of vulnerable children in substantive matters such as housing arrangements and division of matrimonial property. Turning to Maintenance Enforcement Officers, he wanted to know why these will be appointed by the executive branch of the Government instead of the judiciary and how public interest would be better served by handing this responsibility to the executive rather than the judiciary.