Family solicitors have welcomed the government’s aim of encouraging alternatives to court in its review of the family justice system, but warned the focus must not only be cost cutting.
The Ministry of Justice launched a ‘comprehensive review’ of the family justice system last week, appointing a panel of experts to hear evidence on how it can improve.
However the panel chair, David Norgrove, has admitted that a principal catalyst for the review is the government’s desire to make spending cuts.
The review will examine both public and private law cases, looking at how the courts and other agencies manage cases involving children. It will consider how to improve the use of mediation; how to provide better access rights to non-resident parents and grandparents; and review the process of divorce and awarding ancillary relief.
Norgrove said: ‘The family justice system is vitally important, attempting to resolve some of the most difficult issues in our society. I and my panel colleagues are determined to create a better system to serve the needs of those who use it.
‘We are also being challenged to find ways of doing more with less,’ he said.
Sunita Mason, chair of the Law Society family law committee, said: ‘We welcome the opportunity for a fresh look at family justice 20 years on from the Children Act.
‘We hope that the review will encompass and pull together the jigsaw puzzle of the family justice system, not only in relation to the courts, but also the system that operates outside court procedures, such as mediation.’
However, David Allison, chairman of family lawyers’ group Resolution, said cost cutting was inevitable.‘Even if we weren’t in these difficult times, we’d be concerned that any review was about making cuts. In a way it’s refreshing that [ministers] have declared their real intention at the outset. Often they dress up cost-saving plans as reform,’ he said.
He warned that the review’s wide terms of reference would make it hard for the panel to absorb all the information it receives and come up with effective recommendations for change.
But Allison said he was pleased that greater use of collaborative law is being looked at. ‘Often when it comes to alternative dispute resolution, there’s a tendency for people to see mediation as a panacea.’
Law Society council member for child care Christina Blacklaws added: ‘Some pronouncements from ministers about family justice make perfect sense, such as the desire to move more families out of the court system into mediation and parenting information programmes.’
But she said there had to be a balance struck, because there will always be people who need access to the courts, many of whom are vulnerable.
Blacklaws said she hoped the panel would recognise there can be no further cuts in public law proceedings, which have already seen significant cuts. ‘It’s a tiny area of the government’s spend in a hugely important area of law. There is no fat to find on child protection,’ she said.
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