The House legal affairs committee began discussing legislation on Wednesday to modernise family law and put the best interests of children at the centre of family disputes.

Committee chairwoman Fotini Tsiridou said the reform was necessary given the number of divorces and family disputes in Cyprus.

“We have an obligation to modernise our legislative framework so that the best interests of the child are always at the centre,” Tsiridou said after the meeting.

She said the changes would focus on protecting children, ensuring equality between parents and sharing responsibilities and financial burdens more fairly.

The bill being examined concerns the relationship between parents and children and is part of an eight-bill reform of family law.

Four bills have already been approved by the House, introducing consensual divorce and faster procedures in family cases.

The proposed changes would strengthen protection for children affected by domestic violence and allow for counselling, psychological assessments and other support.

They would also introduce counselling programmes for parents and strengthen procedures for determining child maintenance.

The legislation includes provisions for cases where a child becomes alienated from one parent.

A multidisciplinary team coordinated by the Social Welfare Services would also be established to help protect children from physical and psychological violence.

The bill would further strengthen the requirement to take a child’s views into account, depending on their age and maturity.

Tsiridou said the proposed framework was consistent with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

The committee started examining the bill article by article on Wednesday.

Tsiridou said she hoped the discussion would be completed in the coming weeks, allowing the legislation to be brought before the House plenum for a vote.