Family Justice: The Operation of the Family Courts

HC 116-I, Report, together with formal minutes

Author:: Parliament, House of Commons - Constitutional Affairs Committee
Publisher:: TSO (The Stationery Office)

This House of Commons Paper is a follow-up to the July 2004 Green Paper "Parental Separation: Children's Needs and Parents' Responsibilities" (available below), which made proposals concerning parental access to children after a relationship breaks down.

Key features:

Discusses how as much as possible should be done to resolve family disputes through mediation and family courts should only be used as a last resort.

Supports the Draft Children (Contact) and Adoption Bill (available below), but argues how the proposed extension of the courts' enforcement powers would fail unless CAFCASS were allocated considerable extra resources in terms of numbers of staff and the development of new skills.

Acknowledges how although courts are not consciously biased, non-resident parents (usually fathers) are disadvantaged by the present system and should be given more legal rights.

Maintains that the current rules about non-communication of details of family cases to third parties, are sometimes unreasonable and lacking in transparency (for instance, information is withheld from Members of Parliament).

Extent	56 pages	ISBN	9780215022424
Size	A4	Price	£12.00
Binding	Paperback	Published	02 Mar 2005
Availability	Out of stock - available to order	Delivery	Delivery options and charges