Time Limits For Family Law Court Proceedings
Go to: Previous Article Next Article
The Family Law court system in England and Wales has been under fire recently for being inadequate and failing children. A new study carried out by children's charity Barnardo's has found that in some cases courts have taken around fourteen months to sort out cases involving the care and residency of children. The new legal aid regulations are also set to create more problems as some parts of the country will be left without any legal help. A number of high profile court cases have seen a loss of public confidence in the current court system. Cases such as the case of baby P have made headlines and highlighted the inadequacy of the current Family Law court system. Previous head of family justice Sir Mark Potter has concluded that the current system leaves innocent children "exposed to violence and high emotion ... bound to give rise to problems in later life".
All cases that reach the Family Court are stressful and often upsetting but the people who tend to suffer the most through it all are the children involved in the cases. In 1989 The Children's Act was compiled in order to attempt to make sure that all children involved in Family Court cases are treated sensitively and given the utmost consideration where their cases are concerned. A maximum case length of 12 weeks is also set out in the Act. The Act also introduced the original legal aid rules.
The study carried out by Barnardo's also proves that the courts are now falling more short of public expectation than ever. The current system seems completely alien compared to that which was set out under the 1989 Children's Act. It is now commonplace for cases to last anywhere up to sixty five weeks. The problems with the current system are becoming worse and there are 50% more cases left incomplete this year than there was last year. The investigation also showed that the longer a case takes to resolve the more likely it will be that the children will suffer. Often they will be passed between foster parents whilst the outcome of the case is decided.
Barnardo's have now begun campaigning to attempt to get the start to finish time of cases to a maximum of thirty weeks. This would be a massive improvement to the system we currently have.
Article Source: Articlelogy.com
- Find an Immigration Lawyer - Find a
Criminal Lawyer - Find a
Divorce lawyer - Find a
Real Estate Lawyer
- Find a Family Lawyer - Find an
Employment lawyer - Find a
Business Lawyer - Find an
Intellectual Property lawyer
- Find a Bankruptcy Lawyer - Find a Personal Injury Lawyer
- Find a Lawyer about anything
- File for an Online Divorce => without the help of a Lawyer <=
- Ask a Solicitor
Word Count: 391
Reduce Your Debts Without Bankruptcy. See How Much You Can Save. Free Debt Analysis
