The idea of the Polish government to introduce the “Family Information Procedure”

The Family Information Procedure is meant to be a way of reconciling spouses who have minor children together. However, in situations where reconciliation is not possible, these proceedings are aimed, as far as possible, in the speedy and conflict-free implementation of the divorce or separation, taking into account the best interests of the children.

Mediators will play a major role in this proceeding. They will have several responsibilities, for example assisting the spouses in establishing the terms of divorce, childcare issues and the amount of alimony. As the government site emphasizes, thanks to these solutions, the time of conducting divorce proceedings should be significantly shorten, because in the case of divorce proceedings without mediation, they can last up to two years. Moreover, as Deputy Minister of Justice Marcin Romanowski points out, the mediation will be last one month, which is a key argument in favor of accelerating the divorce proceedings.

It is also important that the family information procedure is to be free of charge – the costs will be borne by the state. Moreover, this procedure will not take place in cases where the spouse has abused the family. It should also be noted that the participation in this procedure will be entirely voluntary – the parties are not obliged to mediate. If mediation will not take place, the court will be able to schedule a divorce hearing after one month.

So far, there is no bill on the parliamentary website to introduce this procedure to the provisions in force in Poland. Nevertheless, a lot of information on this subject has been disclosed by the Polish government, therefore it should be expected that the Family Information Procedure will be regulated in the provisions of a specific act soon.