The pilot, which has halved family court backlogs, currently operates in Dorset, North Wales, South East Wales and Birmingham. It aims to minimise hostility and reduce the number of hearings by bringing local authorities, police and support services together to share information at an early stage. It provides specialist support to domestic abuse victims.
Since being launched in 2022, the Pathfinder courts pilot has reduced the average case length from 29 weeks to 18 in North Wales, and 38 weeks to 27 in Dorset.
Bar chair Barbara Mills KC last month urged the government to prioritise funding for Pathfinder, ‘an innovative approach that we know works’.
The Ministry of Justice also extended to March 2026 the family mediation vouchers scheme, which gives couples £500 worth of mediation to help settle issues.
Law Society president Richard Atkinson said the benefit of focusing on early resolution ‘seems clear’.
