A Family Court for cases that are only genuinely necessary?
I was reminded this week of the brilliant and pithy judgment of HHJ Wildblood QC (yes, that is his surname) regarding the desperate need for parents to only take matters to court that are absolutely necessary. He said:
"Judges at this court have an unprecedented amount of work. We wish to provide members of the public with the legal service that they deserve and need. However, if our lists are clogged up with this type of unnecessary, high conflict private law litigation, we will not be able to do so . . .Therefore, the message in this judgment to parties and lawyers is this, as far as I am concerned. Do not bring your private law litigation to the Family court here unless it is genuinely 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. There are many other ways to settle disagreements, such as mediation."
This desperate need arises because our family justice system is under considerable strain; funding is being cut, judges are leaving and applications are increasing. This was the situation almost two years ago when HHJ Wildblood QC made his judgment, and it has not improved, in fact it has got far worse. The delay has worsened and the negative impact on families and children has increased. He advocated that there must be a better way, and (where safeguarding has been addressed) there is
- mediation
- child inclusive mediation
- collaborative law
- parenting coordination
- arbitration
- third party support from parenting programmes, counselling and coaching
The family lawyers at Mills & Reeve are experts in all of these out-of-court alternatives, and can guide you through each process to ensure a better outcome for you and your family.
We can assist you in building a process where the needs of you and your family are the driving force, rather than a court process that aches under the strain of its considerable workload.