Best Interest through Lens of Shared Parental responsibility; A New Model for Child Custody Determinations in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Breakdown of the family is very much traumatic for children of a family. In order to assure a safe and a protected future for children, maintenance of ?best interest of the child?concept, in custody disputes is paramount importance. Therefore, this paper analyses and discusses the literature, case studies, books, and models from different countries on shared custody, with main objective of exploring whether the shared custody practice is a feasible solution in Sri Lankan context. As such the study mainly follow the qualitative research approach. The paper discusses merits and demerits, as well as some obstacles for different models of custody arrangements in several jurisdictions. Among several models practiced around the world, the study has identified the shared custody arrangement is the most favourable solution for the best interest of the child in a parent?s separation or divorce. In addition, the study documents the circumstances that the shared custody arrangement can be made and proposes a new model for custody determinations in Sri Lanka based on the presumption of shared parental responsibility.