New Resolution national chair Nigel Shepherd has used his inaugural speech to renew calls for no-fault divorce.
Speaking in front of 400 family lawyers at Resolution’s annual conference, in Gateshead, Shepherd said: “It’s wrong—and actually bordering on cruel—to say to couples: if you want on move on with your lives…one of you has to blame the other.”
Shepherd replaces Jo Edwards at the helm of the family lawyers’ group. He was previously chair in 1997—when one of his main tasks was to lead Resolution’s campaign for no-fault divorce. Since then, legislation to introduce no-fault divorce has been passed (in 1996) and subsequently scrapped.
“Getting it back on the statute books and actually implemented continues to be a key objective for us, as it should be for any policymaker dealing with family separation,” said Shepherd.
“Our poll, last year, showed that more than a quarter of divorcing couples have made up what they put on the petition, simply to get around this requirement. We will continue to make the case to government, supported by charities, the judiciary, and the many others who know what we know: that couples and their children need to be protected from unnecessary conflict that can do real long-term damage to families.”
Earlier this year Resolution’s outgoing chair Jo Edwards wrote to the prime minister asking for a commitment towards no-fault divorce to be made in the upcoming Queen’s Speech.
Shepherd also branded the legal aid system “a bloody disgrace” and called for an urgent review of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act.
