Judge plea for family court changes

A senior judge has expressed concern over the impact of legal aid cuts on family cases and the protection of children. Sir Nicholas Wall, President of the Family Division, believes that the nature of child custody cases is already too adversarial with children used as “ammunition” after relationships have broken up. Sir Nicholas said judges should play a greater role in trying to calm down such situations by adopting a more hands on approach, rather than just being there to decide the outcome of a particular case. He said that adversarial proceedings were never the best way to settle disputes and fears the situation could be made worse if more parents have to represent themselves due to cuts to legal aid. And Sir Nicholas, who is head of all family court judges, said in many cases the adversarial court disputes between parents often left children “very damaged”. He said: “It has long been my view that adversarial proceedings are often not the best way to resolve family disputes. “Too often parents use their children as the battleground (and sometimes the ammunition) to re-fight the rights and wrongs of the relationship. Children are often very damaged by this process.” Our Family and Matrimonial team helps families across West London and Bucks. For advice, contact a member of the team, call us on 01494 790000 or email familylaw@ibblaw.co.uk.