The Family Court remains plagued by backlogs and delay. No doubt Covid played a very significant part in this but as a consequence the commencement, progression and conclusion of cases are taking longer as confirmed by the latest Family Law Statistics published at the end of June 2022.
Since the introduction of no-fault divorce on April 6 this year, the number of divorce applications have increased; HMCTS received 3,000 divorce applications in the week following the introduction of reforms in April, which is a 50% rise on the weekly average. There were 12,978 new divorce applications in April 2022. More than 10,000 of these were sole applications and 2,771 were joint applications. By comparison, there were 6,764 digital divorce applications and 1,965 paper applications in 2021.
If anything, the above confirms that the new no-fault divorce procedure was a welcome change with separating couples possibly having had a strong desire to proceed on a no-fault basis. There is no longer a requirement to provide a reason for the marriage coming to an end, giving people greater respect for their private life, as well as removing the blame element of divorce previously seen.
Cafcass statistics show that in 2020/21, there were 97,496 children involved in private children proceedings, an increase of 23.1% since 2016/17.
But these increases are not sustainable for the courts or for the families facing long delays.
Recently in the case of Re B (a child) (Unnecessary Private Law Applications), his Honour Judge Wildblood QC said:
“Do not bring your private law litigation to the family court here unless it is definitely necessary for you to do so.
You should settle your differences (or those of your clients) away from court, except where that is not possible. If you do bring unnecessary cases to this court, you will be criticised, and sanctions may be imposed upon you.”
This brings in to play the role of mediation, a pre-requisite to litigation. The Family Mediation Council (FMC) voucher scheme was introduced in March 2021 in England and Wales and offers a £500 voucher to put towards the cost of mediation. The vouchers can be used by parents attending meditation to resolve disputes as to child arrangements or by separating couples wanting to resolve financial matters. It is hoped that the initiative will mean people can come to an agreement without the need for litigation in the Court arena. However, since mediation has to be attempted before litigation, it is hard at this stage to gauge the impact the voucher scheme will have on diverting matters in to Court.
The fact is, going to Court always has to be a last resort in the vast majority of cases. The focus on dispute resolution options, such as mediation is not designed to take away access to justice, but to create a Family Justice System that provides families with options to resolve their disputes in a way that is most appropriate for their circumstances.
The introduction of no-fault divorce and continued funding for mediation enables the focus to move from conflict and confrontation to communication and solutions, and enables our Courts to work more effectively for those who need to litigate.
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