“SHOCKING DELAYS” CRITICISED IN FAMILY JUSTICE REVIEW
The Family Justice Review Panel has today published its final report announcing a range of recommendations seeking to improve the family justice system in an attempt to half the time children cases take to be determined.
The Report wants to make it simpler for people to decide the most appropriate way forward and it wishes to encourage separating parents to make their own arrangements for the children whenever possible. To prevent cases going to court unnecessarily the Report recommends the increased provision of mediation services.
The Report has come under criticism from father’s rights groups for failing to recommend that there should be a presumption in law of shared parenting. The Chairman of the Review Panel told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Fundamentally, this is not about the rights of parents, it’s about the welfare of children and we should be focused entirely on that”.
The Review has been welcomed by the Government and it has been announced that from January 2012 it will be publish court-by-court performance so everyone can see where improvements need to be targeted.
