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12 September 2019 / Graeme Fraser
Issue: 7855 / Categories: Opinion , Family , Divorce
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Back to square one?

Graeme Fraser shares ten family law priorities with the new Lord Chancellor…for when Parliament returns

The suspension of Parliament this month leaves a significant body of unfinished business yet to make it through the halls of Westminster, including the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill, which many of us hope to see reintroduced as soon as normal service is resumed. With some time on his hands to contemplate his in-tray during the party conference season, here are some suggested reforms for the recently appointed Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Robert Buckland QC, on how he could help improve access to justice, and equality of arms in the family law courts and the wider legal family.

No fault divorce

When the government introduced the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill, it promised to reform the divorce process to remove the concept of fault. With the prorogation of Parliament on Monday night, this unfortunately means the Bill will not proceed any further. Considering the existing support for this Bill across the House,

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Thackray Williams—Lucy Zhu

Thackray Williams—Lucy Zhu

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Morgan Lewis—David A. McManus

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Burges Salmon—Rebecca Wilsker

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When it comes to free legal advice, demand massively outweighs supply. 'Millions of people are excluded from access to justice as they don’t have anywhere to turn for free advice—or don’t know that they can ask for help,' Bhavini Bhatt, development director at the Access to Justice Foundation, writes in this week's NLJ
When an ex-couple is deciding who gets what in the divorce or civil partnership dissolution, when is it appropriate for a third party to intervene? David Burrows, NLJ columnist and solicitor advocate, considers this thorny issue in this week’s NLJ
NLJ's latest Charities Appeals Supplement has been published in this week’s issue
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