Court restricts father’s right to make further applications The High Court has extended an order restraining a father from making further applications to the court regarding his children. In November 2018 Mrs Justice Knowles made an Extended Civil Restraint Order (‘ECRO’) with respect to the father, who had made seven applications for permission to appeal […]
Judicial bias, Family Court statistics and Cafcass figures
Judge excuses herself due to family connection A judge dealing with a dispute between parents over arrangements for their children has excused herself from the case, after becoming aware of connection between her family and the mother involved in the case. The judge had already made findings that the father had engaged in a pattern […]
A backlog of cases, human rights and international law
Plan published to deal with backlog of cases The Family Justice Board, which oversees the family justice system, has produced a statement summarising the priority actions it intends to pursue to deal with the backlog of family cases. The Board says backlogs in private law cases (i.e. children cases not involving social services) have increased […]
Stalking link to domestic abuse and early divorce advice
Stalking analysis reveals domestic abuse link The Crown Prosecution Service (‘CPS’) has reported that stalking is increasingly being recognised as a form of domestic abuse within the criminal justice system, with CPS analysis finding that the majority of offences are committed by ex-partners. A record 2,288 charges were brought in 2019-20 – more than double […]
Domestic abuse, costs and the most expensive case
Abuse victims advised to take civil action due to criminal system delays A report by the charity Victim Support on the impact of the pandemic upon victims of domestic abuse has found that the pandemic has created additional barriers to victims’ engagement with the criminal justice system, with many victims and survivors facing considerable waits […]
Divorce statistics and support for abuse victims
Latest divorce statistics published The Office for National Statistics (‘ONS’) has published its latest statistics for divorces in England and Wales, for the year 2019. The main points were: 1. That there were 107,599 divorces of opposite-sex couples in 2019, increasing by 18.4% from 90,871 in 2018 The ONS states that the scale of this […]
Protecting abuse victims in remote hearings, a new approach to children disputes & the latest Cafcass figures
Guidance on protection of domestic abuse victims in remote hearings The President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane, has published guidance on the need to protect victims of domestic abuse in remote and hybrid court hearings. Remote hearings, where all parties take part via telephone or video link, and hybrid hearings, where some parties […]
Medical experts and a courts review
Report on Medical Experts in the Family Courts A report has been published on the subject of medical expert witnesses in the family courts. The report was commissioned by the President of the Family Division Sir Andrew McFarlane in 2018 in response to concerns over shortages of medical experts prepared to be involved in family […]
Remote hearings and a new lockdown
New survey into the operation of remote hearings The Nuffield Family Justice Observatory, which observes and reports upon the workings of the family justice system, has undertaken a new survey into the operation of remote court hearings. Remote hearings, via telephone or video link, have been widely adopted in the family court in response to […]
Courts crisis, economic abuse and state pensions
President warns of crisis in family courts The President of the Family Division Sir Andrew McFarlane has warned that the crisis in the family courts due to their high caseload were not going away, and are getting worse. Speaking at a meeting of the Family Justice Council, whose primary role is to promote an inter-disciplinary […]
