Is there any hope on the horizon for much needed reform to the treatment of domestic abuse cases? Cris McCurley reports
- The final report of the expert panel on risk of harm in private law children cases, coupled with a Court of Appeal judgment closely aligned to its findings, gave hope that change was finally coming to the family courts’ treatment of domestic abuse.
- However, the recommendations risk falling by the wayside without proper funding and resources, putting thousands of domestic abuse victims in harm’s way.
The first coronavirus lockdown in March 2020 threw into stark relief the impact that over a decade of severe cuts to all parts of the family justice system has had in all areas. The cuts to the court estate and to judicial sitting days have led to the remaining courts having to soak up the additional demand from closed courts, causing inevitable delay. Legal aid for private family law cases was virtually obsolete, save for where the victim of abuse could prove themselves to be a victim to the strict evidential
