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Support for Separated Families

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  The Family Solutions Group – a multi-disciplinary group with broad and deep expertise in working with separated families in and out of court – have released a report entitled, ‘What about me?: Reframing Support for Families following Parental Separation’. This report aims to review and improve the experiences of separating families away from the Family Court.   280,000 children see their parents separate each year in the UK. The report details how too many parents who separate on difficult termsfight over their competing ‘rights’, rather than cooperate over their shared ‘responsibilities’.   The reports main recommendations were:   ·         Fill the policy vacuum. ·         Change the cultural response to separation. ·         Put the rights and needs of children at the centre of any parental separation ·         Steer some parents to the ‘safety pathway’ ·         Steer others to the ‘cooperative parenting pathway’   The President of the Family Division , Si
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Government Funding for the Domestic Abuse Bill

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  The Government has announced plans to provide £6 million in funding to aid councils in their preparation for the introduction of the Domestic Abuse Bill. The Bill is planned to come into force in April 2021 once it passes its second reading in the House of Lords. Once introduced the 2020 Domestic Abuse Bill aims to: ·           •  Raise awareness and understanding about the devastating impact of domestic abuse on victims and their families. ·        •  Further improve the effectiveness of the justice system in providing protection for victims of domestic abuse and bringing perpetrators to justice. ·          •  Strengthen the support for victims of abuse by statutory agencies. Upon successful passage of the bill, local authorities in England will be responsible for providing victims of domestic abuse and their children with safe accommodation and support.   It is estimated this will improve the lives of thousands of people, after research found up to 800,000 children live in
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Family Law without the EU

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The EU Withdrawal Agreement (WA) sets out the terms of the United Kingdom’s (UK) exit from the European Union (EU). This document is extremely important for the future of family law and family law practitioners as the UK’s exit from the EU nears. A book is scheduled to be published this month by LEXIS-NEXIS titled, ‘ Family Law Firm the EU: a summary guide for practitioners’ to help provide guidance on family law. The 2019 Withdrawal Agreement outlined that legal proceedings in the UK or EU before the end of 2020 will be enforceable. This means all divorces, children or maintenance orders before 1 st January 2021 must be recognized as a result, fewer hearings should be expedited before 31 st December 2020. The EU guidance provided in January 2019 has now been withdrawn. The EU provided guidance to The Law Society Brussels office on September 4 th , 2020 highlighting relevant parts of the WA for family law. The EU guidance makes clear the recognition and enforcement under the E
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Less Victim Protection

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What has happened?   Protective orders issued by British courts to victims of crimes, will no longer be upheld incountries in the European Union (EU) after December 31 st , 2020.   What does this mean?   Prior to the end of the United Kingdom’s (UK) transition period from the EU, victims of crime who were protected by protective orders issued in a British court were still protected when traveling to any of the 27 countries in the EU.    Once the Brexit transition period ends, victims of crime who have been issued protective orders will no longer have protection outside of Britain. This is because, the EU’s Victim’s Rights Directive has not been included as part of the UK’s exit plan. The reason for this is unclear, as so far there does not appear to be a British alternative to the Victims’ Rights Directive and there does not appear to be plans to create a British alternative.     The purpose of the Victim’s Right’s Directive is to ensure maximum protection and support to
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3 New Ways of Supporting Domestic Violence Victims: Court Edition

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According to the recent Ministry of Justice report, there has been striking consistent submissions of mother’s describing their court experience as the ‘ worst experience’ . Legal professionals have identified weaknesses emboddied in the Family Court structure which had been troubling domestic violence victims for years. After considerable research including the consideration of the Domestic Abuse Bill , new arrangments have been recommended to protect victims and to mitigate barriers of credibility. Safety Issuesof Family Court Proceedings: Prior to the date, reportedly the stress of the proceedings would transpire in affecting the victim’s mental health whereby they would suffer panic attacks and encounter sleepless nights. Fear would also be prevalent at the entrance and waiting areas too as they may find their abuser present- in fact, there has been accounts of victims and even their lawyers being attacked. The court staff have been criticised for being inconsid
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