Subterms
After a busy week last week, the family law news this week has been rather thin. I did, however, come up with two stories: Training for Judges The judiciary has announced new training for judges, responding to concerns about the attitude of judges towards the issue of sexual consent. The concerns arose from a recent […] More
This week in family law it’s all about Cafcass statistics, Islamic marriage and more… Cafcass statistics The latest figures for public law (including care) applications and private law demand, for December 2019, have been published by Cafcass. In that month the service received a total of 1,541 new public law applications (involving 2,417 children), 91 […] More
A time for reflection The past and future of family law: It seems to be a time for judicial and other reflection upon the history of our family justice system. Only in December, I wrote here about a speech by the President of the Family Division Sir Andrew McFarlane, in which he looked back at […] More
Crisis in private family law: As I mentioned here on Friday, the former President of the Family Division Sir James Munby has warned about a ‘crisis in private family law’, in a speech that he prepared for a conference on shared parenting in Edinburgh (in the event he did not deliver the speech, as he was unable to attend […] More
Public support for legal aid The public overwhelmingly supports legal aid, the Law Society has said, as it marked the anniversary of the government’s review of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (‘LASPO’), which abolished legal aid for most private law family cases. The Society said that public backing was strongest for funding […] More
House of Lords considers divorce Bill Consultation on divorce finances: Last Wednesday, the 5th of February, the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill, which aims to introduce a system of no-fault divorce, had its second reading in the House of Lords, where it was introduced. The debate was quite long, lasting over three hours, and I […] More
A week in family law from John Bolch, This week it is all about domestic abuse, divorce centres, transparency and child maintenance. Domestic abuse prosecutions down A bulletin containing prosecution data for quarter 2 2019-2020 has been published by the Crown Prosecution Service (‘CPS’). In relation to domestic abuse, the data shows that the total […] More
This week in family law, John Bolch looks at domestic abuse, child support and divorce. Domestic abuse prosecutions A joint report published by Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate and Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services has concluded that the handling of evidence led domestic abuse prosecutions (i.e. where the victim […] More
