Family rights group ChildWatch is to lobby Government in a bid to get child custody matters taken out of the courts and placed into the hands of qualified mediators, instead.

The group, which consists mostly of distraught dads who have been separated from their children, have repeatedly claimed that the court and legal system in Bermuda is biased against fathers, regardless of the situation.

They said the Children's Amendment Act 2002, which is likely to be discussed in the House of Assembly later this year, will do little to improve the situation and so should not be agreed by MPs.

Instead, they claimed Government should consider setting up an independent family panel, which would mediate between the parents, taking the whole issue out of the courts. And they also want a change in attitude so more parents in custody battles are given joint care and control of their children, rather than just the mothers, which is the norm on the Island.

Chairman of the group Eddie Fisher said Bermuda was small enough to enable both parents to share the care and control of their children, as well as custody. And he said the group would be writing to Government with its concerns before the amendment is discussed in Parliament.

“Some fathers may be given joint custody, but under Bermuda's system that does not mean a thing,” said Mr. Fisher. “You can have joint custody but still only have your child every other weekend, be limited to just a couple of weeks in the summer, and virtually have no say on their schooling.

“There is no reason why both parents should not be given joint care and control.”

But Mr. Fisher said that issue was just one in a system that he claimed was stacked against dads.

He added: “Time and time again we are seeing excellent fathers having their parenthood's taken away from them, so they have little or no visitation rights.

“If the mother doesn't want the father to have much contact with the child, then that is exactly what is allowed to happen by the courts. The courts are biased, the legal system is biased, and Social Services is biased. We are sick and tired of banging our heads against a wall.

“It is time we took the matter out of the courts altogether and had a totally fresh approach to child custody.”

Mr. Fisher said many men in his group had been through a number of lawyers on the Island who had achieved very little for them.

He said: “I think a lot of lawyers don't even bother trying to fight because they know exactly how it works. I think everyone needs to change their attitude.

“There are a lot of fathers who are losing heart and finding it increasingly difficult to stay in touch with their youngsters. It's heartbreaking.”

One father, who did not wish to be named, said he also believed too many men were subjected to false accusations from women whose sole intention was to remove fathers from their children's lives.

He said where women were found to be stating damaging untruths during custody battles, they should be deemed as unfit mothers and suffer the consequences.

He said: “Myself and a number of other men have been wrongly accused of abuse against the mother and, in some cases, the children, simply because the mothers thought it would help their case to get custody.

“Even though they then refuse to press charges or to follow through with the claim in court, and sometimes even admit that it was made up, the damage has been done and it can have a lasting affect on the way the custody case turns out.

“I strongly believe, where this happens, women should be treated in exactly the same way as men who fail to pay child support.”

The amendments to the Children's Act, if agreed, will mean that unmarried fathers are given the same rights as married fathers. However, ChildWatch claimed that married fathers had little rights anyway, so the outcome would be minimal.

But earlier this summer, Health and Family Services Minister Nelson Bascome said the amendments would also change the law so the courts could place the children in the care and control of fathers, if both mother and father were equally suitably. He said in the past, the law stated priority should be given to mothers. And Mr. Bascome said if any judges did have biased tendencies, they would have to change their way of thinking to ensure fair play once the amendment act comes into being.

The Minister was off the Island yesterday, but he earlier said of the proposed amendments: “The courts and Social Services will have the authority to put children into the care of the parent that can best meet the needs - that's how they will have to approach it.

“It has been against dads in the past, but we are hoping to change that.”

And he said more consultation will be held with everyone involved in the process to ensure fathers were given a fair hearing.

He added: “The legislation will change the mindset. Fathers will have equal rights.”