The judiciary is expressing alarm at the unintended consequences of the family legal aid cuts, says Simon Blain
The Court of Appeal has expressed concern about the unforeseen consequences of the government’s decision to remove public funding for the majority of family proceedings.
In the case of L v R [2015] EWCA Civ 61, [2015] All ER (D) 110 (Feb) Lord Justice Aikens and Lady Justices Black and King were faced by a husband litigant in person and an unrepresented wife, who did not attend court. Both parties had petitioned for divorce, on the basis of the other’s unreasonable behaviour. At a case management hearing in the county court, the divorce had been allowed to proceed on the basis of the wife’s petition.
The husband appealed. Black LJ, giving the lead judgment, found that the husband’s application was improperly made, and that the Court of Appeal should not, in any event, interfere lightly in case management decisions. She noted that the divorce proceedings had taken nearly two years, and that there were ample grounds for the
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