the Region | 17 Nov 2025 | Canton

Agna relaunches: Family Court

Future child protection courts and procedural laws: the Parents' Association in Child Care proposes some corrections and looks to the future.

"Looking ahead, the establishment of a single Family Court could represent a more coherent and functional solution for addressing the challenges of family law in an integrated and responsible manner." Agna, the Association of Parents in Child Care (formerly the Association of Non-Custodial Parents), is reviving an old request. It did so in October last year to the Justice Division (Department of Institutions), taking a position on the draft law on child and adult protection procedures. It did so in recent days to the parliamentary commission on Justice and Rights, now that the Council of State has translated into a message the bill, which it had previously submitted for consultation, aimed at regulating the functioning of the planned protection courts.

In a letter to the Justice and Rights deputies, dated November 6 and signed by President Pietro Vanetti and Director Rudy Novena , Agna reiterates what he wrote to the Division: that he supports the introduction of protection courts, but believes that they do not completely eliminate "jurisdiction conflicts." These conflicts, Agna argues, "would be overcome with the establishment of a single Family Court, competent for all family law disputes, not just those assigned to protection authorities by the Civil Code." This court would then intervene directly in all family matters, resulting in "unification of jurisdictions within a single jurisdiction, greater consistency, and procedural simplification." In short, according to Agna, "the advantages" of the Family Court can be summarized as follows: "Elimination of jurisdiction conflicts between ordinary and protection courts, unification of the judicial process for families, integrated and consistent assessment of family situations, reduction of time and costs for users, promotion of joint parenting and shared responsibility." Agna adds: "If the legislator were to approve the introduction of a single court, the protection courts could be converted with little effort, maintaining the value of interdisciplinarity."

In any case, the future Protection Courts will not only deal with the deprivation of parental authority and the regulation of visitation rights, but also with guardianships, curatorships, placements, and care placements. The bill on child and adult protection procedures is part of the reform of the Protection Authorities in Ticino, which includes the establishment of Protection Courts. This will lead to the abolition of the sixteen Regional Protection Authorities (ARPs), whose operations are currently the responsibility of the municipalities. This represents a shift from the current administrative model to a judicial one, which, at the request of the government and parliament, the people of Ticino anchored in the Cantonal Constitution on October 30, 2022. The new organization—still to be implemented—aims to improve the quality of decisions regarding individuals, adults or minors, who have become vulnerable and therefore require protection measures. Returning to Agna's letter to 'Giustizia e Diritti', the association reminds us that it works "to affirm children's right to maintain an equal relationship with both parents, even in the event of separation or divorce." And it defends "co-parenting as a principle that places children's well-being and harmonious development at its center." The cornerstones of co-parenting, in addition to dialogue between parents, in situations of separation or divorce are: shared care and custody, fair childcare contributions, and the efficiency and effectiveness of support institutions.

'In the judging panels, both sexes'

Starting from these three principles and evaluating it "in the best interests of children of separated or divorced parents," Agna writes, "we read and analyzed the bill." This approach has led to a series of proposals for the attention of the parliamentary committee responsible for drafting the report on the government bill concerning the procedure and therefore the activity of the Courts of Protection. The association calls, for example, for the presence of "both genders" on the judging panel (composed of a judge and specialists) and for this aspect to be considered "in the regulations." Regarding conciliation and mediation, Agna proposes "promoting models such as collaborative separation" and "obliging parents to contact specialized centers." It also notes that "mediation is valued, but a binding rule is lacking. This should be strengthened in the regulations." Regarding expert reports, the association proposes "assigning expert mandates to pairs of experts of both genders." These and other proposals.

'A Parenting Plan'

But Agna also offers what she calls an "additional suggestion," inspired by the Italian justice reform known as the Cartabia reform. Namely, the "parental plan." In Ticino, "current practice requires the first-instance authority to draft a formal decision that includes custody, visitation rights, maintenance, and housing. However, there is no structured document describing the concrete management of the children's lives after separation." Agna therefore proposes incorporating into the Law on Procedure for the Protection of Minors and Adults "an article requiring parents involved in separation or divorce proceedings with minor children to submit a parental plan." This plan should include, at a minimum, "the child's weekly routine (school, extracurricular activities, free time), interaction arrangements with each parent, management of holidays and festivities, educational and healthcare decisions, and communication between parents."