*/
Lord Justice Wall, the President of the Family Division, has called for greater “judicial continuity” in family cases and warned of the trauma which separating parents inflict on their offspring.
In a speech to the charity, Families Need Fathers, in Coventry this month, Wall LJ asked whether the family justice system is in need of review.
“The first and critical change which ... needs to be made is to make the system less adversarial. This is more difficult than it sounds,” he said. Parents were harming children during divorce proceedings by using them as “the battlefield” and “the ammunition”.
Wall LJ said he often came across cases which had been dealt with by “as many as nine or ten judges”, with sometimes inconsistent decisions. “In short, there was a total lack of judicial continuity”. This was a case management issue which had to be addressed, he said.
He said mediation will become compulsory in most cases before proceedings can be launched, under the current government, although the details have yet to be worked out.
Meanwhile the MoJ has delayed until late next year a decision on whether to increase media access to family courts.
In a speech to the charity, Families Need Fathers, in Coventry this month, Wall LJ asked whether the family justice system is in need of review.
“The first and critical change which ... needs to be made is to make the system less adversarial. This is more difficult than it sounds,” he said. Parents were harming children during divorce proceedings by using them as “the battlefield” and “the ammunition”.
Wall LJ said he often came across cases which had been dealt with by “as many as nine or ten judges”, with sometimes inconsistent decisions. “In short, there was a total lack of judicial continuity”. This was a case management issue which had to be addressed, he said.
He said mediation will become compulsory in most cases before proceedings can be launched, under the current government, although the details have yet to be worked out.
Meanwhile the MoJ has delayed until late next year a decision on whether to increase media access to family courts.
Lord Justice Wall, the President of the Family Division, has called for greater “judicial continuity” in family cases and warned of the trauma which separating parents inflict on their offspring.
Justice system requires urgent attention and next steps on the Harman Review
Q&A with Tim Lynch of Jordan Lynch Private Finance
By Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs
By Louise Crush of Westgate Wealth Management
Why Virtual Assistants Can Meet the Legal Profession’s Exacting Standards
Despite increased awareness, why are AI hallucinations continuing to infiltrate court cases at an alarming rate? Matthew Lee investigates
Many disabled barristers face entrenched obstacles to KC appointment – both procedural and systemic, writes Diego F Soto-Miranda
The proscribing of Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act is an assault on the English language and on civil liberties, argues Paul Harris SC, founder of the Bar Human Rights Committee
For over three decades, the Bar Mock Trial Competition has boosted the skills, knowledge and confidence of tens of thousands of state school students – as sixth-form teacher Conor Duffy and Young Citizens’ Akasa Pradhan report
Suzie Miller’s latest play puts the legal system centre stage once more. Will it galvanise change? asks Rehna Azim
