Family Justice

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.

Autorentext

John Eekelaar is Emeritus Fellow of Pembroke College, University of Oxford.

Photo courtesy of Faculty of Law, University of Oxford.

Inhalt

1. The Family Justice System
   I Introduction
   II Assumptions and Misperceptions
   III What Is the Family Justice System?
   IV Family Matters and Legal Rights
   V An Historical Perspective

2. Family Justice: Outcome-focused and Behaviour-focused Approaches
   I Impartiality, Processes and Outcomes
   II A Third Approach: Abstention
   III Child-centred Cases
   IV The Intervention Options Reconsidered: the Nature of Relevant State Institutions
   V Organisation of What Follows

3. Lawyers and Mediators: Towards Greater Collaboration?
   I Family Law Practice
   II Development of Mediation
   III Criticisms of Mediation
   IV Problems with Research Evidence
   V Collaboration and Co-operation
   VI New Initiatives

4. Courts: Changing Structures and Functions
   I The Magistracy
   II The Ecclesiastical and Divorce Courts
   III The Demise of Reconciliation
   IV Therapeutic Courts
   V The Contemporary Structure and Functions of Family Courts
   VI Court Support Services
   VII The Recommendations of the Family Justice Review

5. Judging
   I The Framework of the Family Courts in England and Wales
   II The Empirical Evidence: Judges at Work

6. Family Courts in Action
   I Roles Played, the Nature of the Court and the Nature of the Matter
   II Time Spent According to Matters Dealt With
   III The Daily Work of Family Law Judges in the Lower Courts
   IV Reflections

7. Public Law Children Cases
   I The Development of Child Protection in England and Wales
   II The Children Act 1989 and its Aftermath
   III Attempts to Control the Management of Child Protection Cases in the Family Justice System
   IV Tensions and Contradictions in Child Protection Case Management
   V The Benefits of Reasoned Judgments
   VI Reflections

8. Private Law Disputes Involving Children
   I Children's Welfare and Justice to Parents
   II Custody Dispositions by Courts prior to the Children Act 1989
   III The Children Act 1989
   IV Contact between Parents and Children after Separation
   V Legislative Responses
   VI Justice and Decisions Involving Children

9. Late Modern Justice: Information, Advice and Privatisation
   I Background
   II Child Support: from Compulsion to Informed Support
   III Financial Matters: Towards Informed Settlement?
   IV Information, Advice and Justice
   V Information, Rules and Discretion
   VI Privatised Justice
   VII Final Reflections