Care crisis in the courts

Sir James Munby, president of the family division, has called for the family court to become “a problem-solving court” to cope with the “looming crisis” in care cases.

In his monthly View from the President’s Chambers, Sir James warned of a significant increase in care cases—from 6,488 in 2008-09 to 12,781 in 2015-16. Following implementation of the Family Justice Review, the average duration of cases has fallen and the graph has “flatlined” due to the hard work of everyone in the family court.

However, Sir James said rising caseloads meant the court now faces “a clear and imminent crisis”. Consequently, he recommended that the family court become “a problem-solving court”.

“We are all familiar with the excellent and immensely fruitful work being done in ever increasing numbers of cases in the ever expanding network of Family Drug and Alcohol Courts,” he said.

“Another similar project— Pause—is now in rapid development, focusing on addressing the underlying problems of the all too many women who find themselves losing successive children in repeat care proceedings. Other projects are being considered. This is vitally important work.”