The courts work by quickly identifying any risks to the welfare of the children involved in private family proceedings, such as domestic abuse, and taking a problem-solving approach while promoting early collaboration between the court and local authority, police and other agencies involved.
Sir Andrew McFarlane, president of the Family Division, welcomed the announcement as a ‘game changer’ for family justice.
Sir Andrew said: ‘The key change is the Child Impact Report produced by Cafcass, Cafcass Cymru or the local authority, which enables the court to gain an early understanding of the impact the dispute is having on the child and focus the parties on how to address that. The model benefits families and indeed the whole system with fewer hearings, a better understanding of domestic abuse, and less parents returning to court because the arrangements have broken down.’
David Lammy, the Lord Chancellor, said: ‘Court backlogs are not just numbers on a page.
‘When it comes to the family courts, they represent victims waiting, families in limbo and children and domestic abuse victims left to linger in harm’s way.’
Child focused courts currently exist in ten of the 43 court areas, including all of Wales, Birmingham, the West Midlands, Dorset, West Yorkshire, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
In the next financial year, using extra funds of £17m, they will be set up in Northumbria and North Durham, Cleveland and South Durham, Lancashire, Cumbria, York and North Yorkshire, Cheshire and Merseyside, Northamptonshire, and Coventry and Warwickshire. From there, they will be expanded across the remaining parts of England.
However, Law Society president Mark Evans said: ‘We are concerned that legal aid funding for cases has not been adjusted to fit with the Pathfinder process.
‘The result is some domestic abuse survivors who are eligible for legal aid are being left without representation and facing their abusers alone in court, which is entirely contrary to the aims of the Pathfinder process.’
