Family justice inquiry

Child protection lawyers have joined with the NSPCC to call for an urgent Parliamentary inquiry into the state of the family justice system.

A letter fired off to the chairman of the House of Commons Justice Select Committee, Alan Beith MP, this week warns of mounting concern about the impact of repeated cuts in the family justice system.

The letter refers to the report, The Work of the Family Bar by Dr Debora Price and Anne Laybourne of King’s College London, which showed family law barristers were “close to breaking point” (as reported in NLJ, 13 March 2009, p 361).

It adds: “As the Ministry of Justice and the Legal Services Commission prepare to implement further cuts in family legal aid...access to family practitioners, who are best able to represent the interests of vulnerable families and children, is being further constrained.”