Family justice innovations in Catalonia: Reforms, services, structural gaps and (Co)parenting coordination in high‐conflict divorces

This article examines how family justice in Catalonia has responded to high‐conflict separation and divorce involving children within a context of recent institutional and legislative reform. Over the past decade, Catalan courts have increasingly relied on parenting coordination as an auxiliary judicial intervention to manage persistent coparenting conflict, despite the absence of explicit statutory regulation. Drawing on a jurisprudential analysis of Catalan case law and empirical data from a survey of parenting coordinators, this study analyzes the development, functions, and perceived effectiveness of parenting coordination within this evolving framework of family justice services. Findings indicate growing judicial reliance on parenting coordination and reported improvements in coparenting dynamics, alongside persistent challenges including family service delays, limited institutional coordination, and the need for clearer procedural regulation. This article concludes that although Catalonia has advanced toward a more interdisciplinary and child‐centered model of family justice, further structural integration and formal regulation of parenting coordination will be necessary to consolidate reform and enhance the protection of children affected by high‐conflict separations.