From Fudge to Fruitcake?

Lawyers to be kept out of divorce battles!

My first reaction when these 2 items slammed on to Davey's newsdesk this morning was has the world gone mad? Is it possible this Government may just be getting a few things RIGHT? I am grateful to RFFJ for alerting me to these stories and much more. (click on original blog title for more of RFFJ)


Lawyers will be kept out of thousands of family dispute cases every year in a shake-up of divorce laws.

By Nick Collins Telegraph
18 Oct 2010
A government review is to recommend the introduction of a compulsory mediation stage before any financial or custodial dispute is heard in court.

The plan, to be published at the start of next year, will also introduce briefer and simpler hearings for cases that cannot be resolved by mediation.

David Norgrove, who is leading the review, described the "tremendous strain" being put on the current system by the rising number of disputes coming before the courts.

The number of divorce cases rose 16 per cent to 137,000 last year, with the average childcare case taking more than 12 months to be completed.

It is hoped that the new mediation stage will reduce legal aid costs by up to £100 million, while fewer expert witnesses would be required to testify before the courts.

Mr Norgrove told The Times the family justice system costs more than £1.6 billion, but that nine in every ten cases could be dealt with out of court.

He said evidence showed that: "If you can get both parties to learn about mediation, the great majority will go on to use it."

Sir Nicholas Wall, the most senior judge in England and Wales, said the system should be made "less adversarial" as he attacked selfish parents for failing to consider their children's wellbeing.

Under the new system, couples could be forced to take parenting classes as well as being referred to mediators, with court rooms acting as a last resort.

Judges would also be able to advise parents early into legal proceedings what the likely outcome would be, in an effort to force through an agreement and avoid long and expensive cases.

As we have always said money is the driving force here and it is only thanks to this Coalition Government seeking cut-backs that finally justice may actually be WON!

Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission to be scrapped!
(Thats CSA to you and me!)

The government has announced this morning that the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (CMEC) is among 192 quangos that are to be scrapped.

Specific details of what will replace CMEC have not yet been announced, only that it will be brought under more direct Ministerial control as an executive agency of the Department of Work and Pensions who will have responsibility for its functions. The government intends to introduce a Public Bodies Bill that will enable the reforms to be implemented.

The Commission formally replaced the Child Support Agency (CSA) last year and has the responsibility for the child maintenance system in Great Britain. The CSA had been beset with problems which led to its demise. In June 2006, the National Audit Office revealed that it cost the CSA 70p to collect every pound of child support and £3.5bn in payments had not been collected since 1993.


The government also confirmed that the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority is to be scrapped by the end of the current Parliament and its functions will be transferred to other regulators.

As previously announced, the Legal Services Commission is to be abolished and its functions moved to the Ministry of Justice. The Legal Services Ombudsman, which oversees the handling of complaints about lawyers in England and Wales, is also to be completely abolished by 2011.

Non-Departmental Public Bodies to be retained on the grounds that they perform a technical function which should remain independent of the government include the Family Justice Council, the Family Procedure Rule Committee, the Law Commission of England and Wales and the Legal Services Board.

However there is still some doubt over the future of Cafcass pending the outcome of the Family Justice Review Panel which is due to produce their report on the family justice system in 2011. Also under still under consideration is the Office of the Children's Commissioner which is subject to a formal review to be finalised by the end of November.

At time of going to press Davey is of the understanding that CAFCASS is to be disbanded and all I would say to those prospective redundent Court reporters is I hope you endure just 10% of the misery and heartache you and your appalling service have inflicted on parents and more importantly the children you were supposed to have served over the past 10 years!