Clause 106 of the Adoption and Children Bill: legislation for the ‘good’ father?

This paper critically evaluates clause 106 of the Adoption and Children Bill that permits for unmarried fathers to acquire parental responsibility on joint registration of the child's birth. I will argue that there are two factors influencing the proposed expansion of the ways in which fathers may acquire parental responsibility. First, current law recognises the automatic parental responsibility of mothers but only of married fathers, and so is said to contain an imbalance in favour of mothers. Secondly, there is a perceived need to recognise the father's commitment to the child, which is allegedly demonstrated through the act of registration. This paper examines these two themes by reviewing recent case law relating to section 4 applications. It will show that the current law does at least place an emphasis on fathers showing some merit to the court and will argue that the reform in itself will do little to enhance and promote the relationships between children and fathers. However, as a result considerable incursion will be made into the control that women, as primary carers, have in relation to their children.