Dr Elena Lauroba Lacasa, a tenured professor of Civil Law at the University of Barcelona and president of the Legal Advisory Commission of the Catalan Government during the time when the text was drafted, set about clarifying the objectives behind the drawing up of the legal document that was passed in July 2010.

She started off by explaining to the audience the political atmosphere and legal framework at the time of the first legislature of the tripartite government and emphasised how the innovative nature of Catalan doctrine, with its marked comparativist tendency, was decisive in enacting the law which is still in force today.

The drafting process and the parliamentary negotiations involved were no simple matter. “When it became known we were drawing up the draft of Book II, association representatives were queuing up at the department to speak to Consellera (minister) Tura, and each of them felt their request was of vital importance”. Moreover, this all went back to the regulation approved in 1998 by the Convergència party which was hardly inclined to facilitate reform.

The lobbyists also put pressure on the ministry and discussions went on to focus on aspects such as the care and custody of children in the case of separation and the system of parental visits for the ‘defeated’ parent. It was precisely in order to avoid this situation of ‘winners’ and ‘losers’ in lawsuits on family law that shared custody was established as a general rule. At the same time, the name for this new concept of family law was adapted and the former ‘visiting arrangements’ was replaced by ‘personal relationship arrangements’, amongst other changes.

Nevertheless, this reform was not just a matter of reformulating names but, in line with the changes, it also implemented a parenting plan for parents who no longer live together and allowed them access to family mediation at any time during the process.

It also took into account new social realities and the new types of families that are more prevalent today. For example, it regulates the provision of food for reconstituted families, regardless of the biological relationship of the child with either parent, and the protection of children born through surrogate pregnancies.

Finally, Dr Lauroba gave advice to members of the audience who have decided to pursue this branch of law in their professional lives, and advised them that they should build up their levels of patience, as “family law is an area in which everyone thinks they know everything; all of us have family members or friends who have been involved in a separation, but there are no two cases alike and few people understand the technical difficulties and the meticulous care that the interests of the defendants require.”