How do you Reform Family Court?
If you are in anyway involved in Family Court right now, it’s going to be the question on your lips, how do we reform Family Court? How do we put a stop to the injustices going on? Why are there so many people shouting out loud, “We want to make it fair.” but nobody says how. Yes there has been the publication of the Harm Report, and in fairness it has many good points but it was published in June 2020, and Royal Assent was given to the Domestic Abuse Act in 2021, but here we are in the back end of 2022, looking ahead at a new year where a snap of the fingers will take us to three years since the Harm Report was published.
I’m not here to say that the Harm Report was wrong, because it wasn’t, but still I hear daily stories from people who feel let down by the Family Court system. Victims of domestic abuse who’s stories don’t get heard, victims of domestic abuse who are further abused in the Family Court system, victims of domestic abuse who are gagged and expected to sit back and accept letting the perpetrator have extended access to the children who’ve witnessed or worse still been party to the domestic abuse. It’s a sad sorry state of affairs when the main part of my role as a McKenzie Friend is consoling abused mothers and fathers, rather than supporting them as they explain their suffering to understanding magistrates and judges. This doesn’t just go on in the UK, this goes on around the world. For the sake of this report we are focusing on the UK but if campaigners around the world want to use these ideas then feel free.
The first thing I want to explain is that this report will find it’s way in the form of a letter to Dominic Raab, the man our new Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak has put back in charge of the Ministry of Justice, and I will be expecting a full and comprehensive response from him, because unlike Family Court his reply will be made public. This will be thanks to the help of a Conservative MP with who’s team I spoke with this week.
The Harm Report highlighted a lot of the issues facing Family Court, but it didn’t really offer any firm solutions that would change the face of Family Court forever. I have witnessed some horrific situations in the past few months whilst I’ve been a McKenzie Friend. I’ve heard magistrates telling a victim of mental, financial, violent, sexual abuse, to “Park it” and “that’s in the past so forget it now.”, even though the child had witnessed and been a direct victim of physical abuse. I’ve seen a horrifying story of a disabled child being a victim of systemic abuse in care homes, being denied medicine and general hygiene. All this and the judges just allowing it to continue despite it being highlighted to them.
I was trying to decide whether this next part should be a continuation of the above paragraph or a new one entirely, it’s obvious now the decision I made, I believed it deserved it’s own paragraph. I’ve seen on a regular basis the abuser keeping their calm in court, talking like a sensible and perhaps easy-going person. It seems to be a regular occurrence. I’ve seen undeniable evidence of domestic abuse being ignored and Finding of Fact hearings being disallowed simply because how an abuser has acted in court. What seems to be forgotten is that an abuser can control how they act. They can belittle a partner during a relationship or smack them around, but then switch off and act like mum or dad of the year in front of the judge. The judge or magistrate then starts to have a bias towards the calm abuser and think that the victim who is visibly shaking in fear at the mere sound of the abuser's voice, is just being hysterical because they can’t cope with court. This is such a common occurrence and quite frankly it makes me sick.
I’ve waffled on a bit, but I want Mr Raab and his colleagues at the Ministry of Justice to have a background at what we are dealing with here. It he going to be yet another minister who’ll spend a year in the job, do nothing of note and then pass the role on to another cabinet member? Let’s hope not. Mr Raab, this is a call to you to finally fix the issues with family court.
How do we sort this mess out then? Well currently magistrates, judges and even untrained legal advisors say what they like, make decisions to turn their nose up at evidence and destroy the lives of countless children, and nobody can say a thing about it, or it’s contempt of court. Well without releasing names of children or their parents I am here telling you Mr Raab that as a McKenzie Friend the whole system is a great big mess but fear not because I have a solution that will stop magistrates and judges etc from making such derogatory comments and decisions. I think I know how to put an end to this sickening run that abusers have been on, no more will they be able to fool the court, because my plan allows the court to remain closed, but it also puts accountability firmly in place.
Mr Raab, you won’t believe how simple this idea is, and the costs will be minimal, in fact it’ll probably save the government money as there’ll be less appeals and less Legal Aid issued. We need a panel of around ten highly qualified people, who are independent and trained in how abusers can pull the wool over the eyes of judges etc. Each member of the panel will work in a particular region of the country with them moving on a regular basis around the UK, to ensure we do not have any corruption either. This panel will have the right to pull out any transcript at random and investigate the outcome, if they find one they aren’t happy with then they will have the right to speak to all of the parties involved including barristers, guardians, CAFCASS officers, Social Services, Judges, Magistrates, the whole kit and caboodle, nobody can refuse to answer thier questions. This panel will also work like an ombudsman for Family Court, ensuring that everything is done with fairness and impartiality. Anyone who feels like they’ve been let down by Family Court will be able to fill out a simple form with their name, court and reference number online for their case to be investigated. Having this in place will ensure that judges, magistrates and everyone involved in Family Court does not belittle victims of domestic abuse, no longer will abusers get away with their carefully planned in court abuse, if they do then they will face the panel and will be punished accordingly, and the case will be reopened.
Alongside this panel will be an organisation who’s sole purpose is to train anyone involved in the judiciary process in domestic abuse. They will learn not only what abuse is (according to the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 and Practice Direction 12J), but they’ll also be trained on the methods used by abusers within court to cause further harm to the victim. They will be trained in mental health and how to spot someone faking it, they’ll understand how to spot anyone suffering from mental health issues because of the training they’ll receive. FINALLY WE WILL HAVE A FAMILY COURT WHICH IS HELD ACCOUNTABLE, PLUS THEY’LL HAVE A GRASP ON HOW TO SPOT AN ABUSER AT WORK IN THEIR COURTROOM. Sorry for the capital letters, I just found myself gasping and getting angry wondering why this hasn’t been done long ago.
So there you have it Mr Raab (or whoever is in charge of the Ministry of Justice by the time you read this), a plan to ensure that 99% of Family Court cases end with a fair outcome that is undoubtably the right decision for the children who are the main focus of any Family Court Hearing.
If you are not Dominic Raab and you’ve read this until the end, then well done and thank you. Would you please take time to share this far and wide, we need the backing of as many people as possible. Please sign our petition for more training in Family Court by clicking here or visit our website at www.FamilyCourtReform.org.uk to read more about us and help us on our way. If you find yourself in the midst of Family Court and need support then you can find me at www.mfriend.co.uk, I’m busy but due to the successful end to a couple of cases recently, I have some space available to help one or two more people.
Best Wishes
Phil Woods
