 High-profile campaigns have highlighted access issues |
An inquiry by MPs is to examine whether parents are being let down by the family court system. Issues including child custody and contact arrangements for parents who separate will be looked at by MPs.
The announcement of the investigation comes after a series of high-profile stunts by estranged fathers battling to see their children.
But chairman Alan Beith said the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee had started planning it months ago.
Queen's balcony
Details were revealed on Monday just days after a Fathers 4 Justice protester staged a stunt on a ledge at Buckingham Palace dressed as Batman.
Jason Hatch, 32, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, evaded security and received world-wide publicity.
Afterwards he said: "It was easier to get to the Queen's balcony than to see my own children."
Mr Hatch has been released on police bail with David Pyke, 48, also from Cheltenham, who was dressed as Robin but was stopped by armed police on the day.
Fathers 4 Justice has labelled Monday's announcement a "derisory" response to the problem of thousands of children being deprived of access to their parents every year.
Matt O'Connor, Fathers 4 Justice spokesman, said the inquiry "means absolutely nothing".
He said: "If your house is on fire, you don't hold an inquiry.
"What we need to see is the immediate suspension of the family court, but it is another six months before this inquiry is due to report back."
Children's groups broadly welcomed the inquiry.
A spokeswoman for the NSPCC said: "We would welcome the inquiry given that the interests of the child remain paramount."
The Children's Society believes an inquiry may have more effect than a parliamentary debate.
"We welcome the fact that there is going to be an inquiry because it may have more substance and potential action at the end of it [than a debate]," a society spokeswoman said.
The committee will look particularly at child custody and contact arrangements as part of a general review of the family court system.
MPs will also look at whether family court judges have sufficient powers, whether cases are unduly delayed and whether those using the family court system get the service they deserve.
A government review is already under way, following the publication of a Green Paper in July, which recognised there were problems with current arrangements for contact between estranged parents and children.
'Anguish'
Mr Beith told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that judges had already expressed concern about having to rule on family disputes "in an atmosphere of great emotion and anguish".
"There are fathers who feel their side of the story is being ignored and they are not getting the access that has been granted to them.
"But equally there are mothers who are concerned they may be pressed into a situation where someone who has committed domestic violence on them is given access to their children in circumstances where they worry about their safety."
Some disputes might "be managed better without a court proceeding", Mr Beith added.
"Resolving problems about contact and access between people who have seriously fallen out when a relationship has broken down is probably best done through a mediating process rather than expecting a kind of judgment of Solomon, where a court can allocate time and parcel out children, to be readily enforceable."
The committee also wanted to hear from "children and organisations representing them about how they view the court process and whether it can really meet their needs", Mr Beith told Today.
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What we need to see is the immediate suspension of the family court 
