{The Family Courts Act, 1984 established family courts across the country to settle marital acrimony amicably with special consideration that the children do not suffer “collateral damage” entailed from the legal battle between their parents. This write up concisely touches upon how a family court differs from a district court dealing with civil cases}

As the Indian society has progressed, the nature and dynamics of Indian families has undergone a sea of changes. Notably, the stigma and taboo attached to divorces has been rightly diminishing. Couples are increasingly willing to seek dissolution of marriages. This inadvertently led to increased litigation in the Indian Courts, The Courts acknowledged this social change and the need for efficacious and expedient dispute resolution to bring about reconciliation and settlement. The Courts deemed it equally necessary that the legal battle between the litigants does not hamper the development of their children in any way. Appreciating the nuances and the intricacies of dealing with families in crisis the need for a specialized court having specialized judges to deal with such cases appositely was felt, Accordingly in 1984, Family Courts were set up in India, The functions of a family court are distinctive in the following sense:

1. Help families reach agreements;
2. Give families information and professional advice to inform their decision making;  
3. Provide opportunity for children’s views to be heard; 
4. Give children representation; 
5. Deal in the same place with matters relating to the same family; 
6. Recognize differing cultural values; 
7. Provide information and professional expertise to inform court decisions, where these are required; 
8. Provide help from empathetic, well-qualified, and properly trained staff and professionals; 
9. Liaise effectively with individuals and community groups that help families; 
10. Keep pace with social change; 
11. Resolve disputes as speedily as possible;
12. Make urgent interim orders where necessary. 

The duty of family courts is also specialized in the sense that their duty is not limited to adjudicating justice but to also endeavour to assist and persuade the parties in arriving at a settlement in respect of the subject-matter of the suit as per Section 9 of the Family Courts Act, 1984

That the family courts have done an exceedingly fine job and established themselves as an inextricable part of amicable dispute resolution is undeniable, But from time to time the apex court of the land has stepped in to adjudicate on some matters and set the precedent for the lower court to follow, The following blogs of this series will analyse these Supreme Court judgments which serve as landmark case laws in field of family law.