Family Justice

Family Justice
Author: John Eekelaar
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2013-06-03
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1782251588

This book is about the delivery of family justice in England and Wales, focusing on the work of the family judiciary in the lower courts. The policy context is moving so rapidly that the authors have gone beyond presenting their empirical findings to offer a broader consideration of the nature and role of the family justice system, as these are in danger of being lost amid present reform proposals. The first four chapters are historical and comparative, examining assumptions about family justice and offering a defence of the role of legal rights in family life, and the importance of good policy-making balancing outcome- and behaviour-focused approaches to family justice. Comparative examples from the US and Australia show how new approaches to family justice can be successfully deployed. The next three chapters are empirical, including a typology of the roles played and tasks addressed by the judges, overturning the commonly held assumption that the central judicial role is adjudication, emphasising the extent to which judges integrate outcome- and behaviour-focused approaches to family justice, and giving a detailed account of the daily work of circuit and district judges and legal advisers. The conclusion is that there is a trend across jurisdictions, driven by technological innovation and by economic constraints, to reduce the role of courts and lawyers in favour of individual choices based on private or government-funded information sources. While these developments can be beneficial, they also have dangers and limitations. The final chapter argues that despite the move to privatised forms of dispute resolution, family justice still demands a sound judicial structure.

Caring for Families in Court

Caring for Families in Court
Author: Barbara A. Babb
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 160
Release: 2019-01-15
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1134842619

In many US courts and internationally, family law cases constitute almost half of the trial caseload. These matters include child abuse and neglect and juvenile delinquency, as well as divorce, custody, paternity, and other traditional family law issues. In this book, the authors argue that reforms to the family justice system are necessary to enable it to assist families and children effectively. The authors propose an approach that envisions the family court as a "care center," by blending existing theories surrounding court reform in family law with an ethic of care and narrative practice. Building on conceptual, procedural, and structural reforms of the past several decades, the authors define the concept of a unified family court created along interdisciplinary lines — a paradigm that is particularly well suited to inform the work of family courts. These prior reforms have contributed to enhancing the family justice system, as courts now can shape comprehensive outcomes designed to improve the lives of families and children by taking into account both their legal and non-legal needs. In doing so, courts can utilize each family’s story as a foundation to fashion a resolution of their unique issues. In the book, the authors aim to strengthen a court’s problem-solving capabilities by discussing how incorporating an ethic of care and appreciating the family narrative can add to the court’s effectiveness in responding to families and children. Creating the court as a care center, the authors conclude, should lie at the heart of how a family justice system operates. The authors are well-known figures in the area and have been involved in family court reform on both a US national and an international scale for many years.

Mapping Paths to Family Justice

Mapping Paths to Family Justice
Author: Anne Barlow
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2017-06-13
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 9781137554048

​The family justice system in England and Wales has undergone radical change over the past 20 years. A significant part of this shifting landscape has been an increasing emphasis on settling private family disputes out of court, which has been embraced by policy-makers, judges and practitioners alike and is promoted as an unqualified good. Mapping Paths to Family Justice: Resolving Family Disputes in Neoliberal Times examines the experiences of people taking part in out-of-court family dispute resolution in England and Wales. It addresses questions such as how participants’ experiences match up to the ideal; how recent changes to the legal system have affected people’s ability to access out-of-court dispute resolution; and what kind of outcomes are achieved in family dispute resolution. This book is the first study systematically to compare different forms of family dispute resolution. It explores people’s experiences of solicitor negotiations, mediation and collaborative law empirically by analyzing findings from a nationally representative survey, individual in-depth interviews with parties and practitioners, and recorded family dispute resolution processes. It considers these in the context of ongoing neoliberal reforms to the family justice system, drawing out conclusions and implications for policy and practice.

The Abusing Family

The Abusing Family
Author: Blair Justice
Publisher: Da Capo Lifelong Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 1990-03-21
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 9780306434419

Revises the 1st ed. (1976) of a volume that emphasizes the systems nature of child abuse so that causes and cures can be understood and interventions designed for both primary and secondary prevention. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Delivering Family Justice in the 21st Century

Delivering Family Justice in the 21st Century
Author: Mavis Maclean
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 429
Release: 2015-08-27
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1782259716

Family justice requires not only a legal framework within which personal obligations are regulated over the life course, but also a justice system which can deliver legal information, advice and support at times of change of status or family stress, together with mechanisms for negotiation, dispute management and resolution, with adjudication as the last resort. The past few years have seen unparalleled turbulence in the way family justice systems function. These changes are associated with economic constraints in many countries, including England and Wales, where legal aid for private family matters has largely disappeared. But there is also a change in ideology in a number of jurisdictions, including Canada, towards what is sometimes called neo-liberalism, whereby the state seeks to reduce its area of activity while at the same time maintaining strong views on family values. Legal services may become fragmented and marketised, and the role of law and lawyers reduced, while self-help web based services expand. The contributors to this volume share their anxieties about the impact on the ability of individuals to achieve fair and informed resolution in family matters.

Research Handbook on Family Justice Systems

Research Handbook on Family Justice Systems
Author: Mavis Maclean
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Total Pages: 447
Release: 2023-05-09
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1800881401

Bringing together current research from a diverse range of jurisdictions on family law, the Research Handbook on Family Justice Systems addresses the aims and boundaries of family justice systems. Delineating the common purpose of family law to achieve fairness for groups of people who live or have lived together, this Research Handbook is concerned with the rules referred to as ‘family law’, but also with the institutions comprising the operating system.

Draft Legislation on Family Justice

Draft Legislation on Family Justice
Author: Great Britain: Department for Education
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 52
Release: 2012-09-03
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9780101843720

The Government responded to the Family Justice Review (Norgrove report, November 2011, ISBN 9780108511158) in February 2012 (Cm. 8273, ISBN 9780101827324). The current system is characterised by delay, expense, bureaucracy and lack of trust. This paper sets out the draft legislation to bring the Government's policies into effect. The proposals would reduce delay and duplication, with a maximum time limit of 26 weeks for completing care and supervision proceedings. Case management decisions would have to consider the impact on the welfare of the child, and the courts should focus only on the provisions of the care plan that set out the long term plan for the upbringing of the child. The legislation covers: family mediation information and assessment meetings; child arrangements orders; control of expert evidence, and of assessments, in children proceedings; time limits in proceedings for care or supervision orders; care plans; care proceedings and care plans, regulations and procedural requirements; repeal of restrictions on divorce and dissolution etc where there are children; repeal of uncommenced provisions of Part 2 of the Family Law Act 1996.

What Is a Family Justice System For?

What Is a Family Justice System For?
Author: Mavis Maclean
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 283
Release: 2022-08-25
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1509950982

Does a justice system have a welfare function? If so, where does the boundary lie between justice and welfare, and where can the necessary resources and expertise be found? In a time of austerity, medical emergency, and limited public funding, this book explores the role of the family justice system and asks whether it has a function beyond decision-making in dispute resolution. Might a family justice system even help to prevent or minimise conflict as well as resolving dispute when it arises? The book is divided into 4 parts, with contributions from 22 legal scholars working across Europe, Australia, Argentina and Canada. - Part 1 looks at what constitutes a family justice system in different jurisdictions, and how a welfare element is included in the legal framework. - Part 2 looks at those engaged with a family justice system as professionals and users, and explores how far private ordering is encouraged in different countries. - Part 3 looks at new ways of working within a family justice system and raises the question of whether the move towards privatisation derives from the intrinsic value of individual autonomy and acceptance of responsibility in family disputes, or whether it is also a response to the increasing burden on the state of providing a welfare-minded family justice system. - Part 4 explores recent major changes of direction for the family justice systems of Australia, Argentina, Turkey, Spain, and Germany.

Family Justice Review

Family Justice Review
Author: Family Justice Review
Publisher: The Stationery Office
Total Pages: 234
Release: 2011-04
Genre: Law
ISBN: 9780108510557

The legal framework of family justice in England and Wales is strong. Its principles are right, in particular the starting point that the welfare of children must be paramount. Every year 500,000 parents and children are involved in the system. But the system is under great strain: cases take far too long (the average case took 53 weeks in 2010); too many private law disputes end up in court; the system lacks coherence; there is growing mistrust leading to layers of checking and scrutiny; little mutual learning or feedback; a worrying lack of IT and management information. The Review's recommendations aim: to bring greater coherence through organisational change and better management; making the system more able to cope with current and future pressures; to reduce duplication of scrutiny to the appropriate level; and to divert more issues away from the courts. The chapters of the review cover: the current system; the proposed Family Justice Service; public law; private law; financial implications and implementation; and there are eighteen annexes. The proposals are now out for consultation, with the final report due in autumn 2011.