A think-tank report said that the increasing tendency for judges to use the Human Rights Act to make new law had resulted in a culture of "institutional injustice" in the family courts, with judgments that took no account of even the most flagrant examples of bad conduct and bad faith.
Source: Martin Mears, Institutional Injustice: The Family Courts at work, Civitas (020 7401 5470)
Links: Civitas press release
Date: 2005-Dec
The government said that a pilot scheme to avoid court battles between divorced and separated parents over contact with their children (the family resolutions pilot) had attracted participation by only 62 couples, compared to the 1,000 expected.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Answers 16 November 2005, column 1284W, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Nov
The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service began consultation on a new strategy to improve its service provision. By April 2007 there would be a guaranteed early intervention service, with no delays in the allocation of practitioners.
Source: Anthony Douglas, Every Day Matters: New directions for CAFCASS, Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (CAFCASS) (020 7510 7036)
Links: Consultation document (pdf) | CAFCASS press release (pdf)
Date: 2005-Oct
A survey examined the part played by the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service in determining how family courts processed applications from parents for contact with their children. It was extremely rare for CAFCASS to recommend no contact with a father, and there was no evidence of systemic bias against either fathers or mothers in the process.
Source: Family Court and Parental Contact, National Association of Probation Officers (020 7223 4887)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2005-Oct
A study examined the experience of parents from minority ethnic backgrounds who became involved in care proceedings. It described what it took for parents from diverse backgrounds to feel that the legal process was fair, and that they had been heard and understood. It also identified some of the barriers to effective communication, and explored issues of ethnicity and cultural variation in explanations of child maltreatment.
Source: Julia Brophy, Jagbir Jhutti-Johal and Eleanor McDonald, Minority Ethnic Parents, Their Solicitors and Child Protection Litigation, Department for Constitutional Affairs (020 7210 8500)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2005-Oct
The government announced (following consultation) that it would create a single Civil Court and a single Family Court to encompass all the jurisdictions shared between the High Court, county courts and Family Proceedings Courts.
Source: A Single Civil Court?: Response to consultation, Department for Constitutional Affairs (020 7210 8500)
Links: Report (pdf) | DCA press release | Bar Council press release
Date: 2005-Oct
An article said that divorcing couples reaped psychological gains from the dissolution of their marriages. Men and women benefited equally.
Source: Jonathan Gardner and Andrew Oswald, 'Do divorcing couples become happier by breaking up?', Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, October 2005
Links: Article (pdf)
Date: 2005-Oct
The number of divorces fell by 0.1 per cent in England and Wales between 2003 and 2004, to 153,399.
Source: Press release 31 August 2005, Office for National Statistics (0845 601 3034)
Links: ONS press release (pdf)
Date: 2005-Aug
A paper examined the stability of divorce determinants between 1960 and 1989. Using retrospective marriage history data, it showed that the effects on divorce rate of educational attainment, premarital cohabitation, and spouse?s previous marital status had all undergone significant changes.
Source: Tak Wing Chan and Brendan Halpin, The Instability of Divorce Risk Factors in the UK, Working Paper 2005-06, Department of Sociology/University of Oxford (01865 86170)
Links: Paper (pdf)
Date: 2005-Jul
An article said that the legal aid scheme could act to promote delay and cost inflation within family cases, and examined the likely impact of proposed reforms.
Source: Vicky Kemp, Pascoe Pleasence and Nigel Balmer, 'Incentivising disputes: the role of public funding in private law children cases', Journal of Social Welfare & Family Law, Volume 27 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2005-Jul
The Court of Appeal upheld an award of ?4.5 million to a woman in a divorce case (Miller v Miller), even though the marriage had been short and childless.
Source: Press release 29 July 2005, Department for Constitutional Affairs (020 7210 8500)
Links: DCA press release
Date: 2005-Jul
The government said that it had dropped plans to impose curfews and electronic tagging on separated and divorced parents who flouted orders for their ex-partners to spend time with their children.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 8 June 2005, column 45WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard
Date: 2005-Jun
The second report was published from a study which aimed to provide baseline data on contact and residence orders. It was based on the outcomes from qualitative in-depth interviews with 61 parents who had taken their dispute to court.
Source: Carol Smart, Vanessa May, Amanda Wade and Clare Furniss, with Kaveri Sharma and Jason Strelitz, Residence and Contact Disputes in Court Service: Volume 2, Department for Constitutional Affairs (020 7210 8500)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf)
Date: 2005-Jun
The government announced plans (in the Queen's speech) for a Child Contact and Inter-country Adoption Bill. The Bill would give the courts more powers to facilitate contact or enforce contact orders, and provide a statutory framework for the suspension of inter-country adoptions.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Debate 17 May 2005, columns 29-31, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard
Date: 2005-May
A report by a joint committee of MPs and peers said that the courts were usually not the best place to resolve complex family disputes, and that alternative resolution mechanisms should be used, particularly mediation. It said that plans to electronically tag divorced and separated parents who flouted child contact orders should be dropped.
Source: Draft Children (Contact) and Adoption Bill, First Report (Session 2004-05), HL 100 and HC 400, Joint Committee on Draft Children (Contact) and Adoption Bill (House of Lords and House of Commons), TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Apr
A report by a committee of MPs highlighted a variety of problems in the family courts system - delay, lack of judicial continuity, inability to come back to the judge promptly, and the ability of the courts to make orders that were obeyed. It was not clear that the government's Green Paper proposals would by themselves resolve these problems, and a coherent statement of overall strategy was needed.
Source: Family Justice: The operation of the family courts, Fourth Report (Session 2004-05), HC 116, House of Commons Constitutional Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Mar
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the operation of the family courts.
Source: Government Response to the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee Report: Family Justice - The operation of the family courts, Cm 6507, Department for Constitutional Affairs, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response (pdf) | MPs report (pdf)
Date: 2005-Mar
The Court of Appeal said that a rule which meant that separated fathers could claim no social security benefits for their child, even if they shared almost equal care, was 'grotesque'.
Source: Hockenjos v Secretary of State for Social Security (No 2), Court of Appeal 21 December 2004
Links: Text of judgement | Guardian report
Date: 2005-Feb
The government began consultation on the potential for unifying the civil and family jurisdictions of the High Court, the county courts, and the Family Proceedings Court.
Source: A Single Civil Court?, Department for Constitutional Affairs (020 7210 8500)
Links: Consultation document (pdf) | DCA press release
Date: 2005-Feb
The government announced (following consultation) measures designed to encourage improved contact arrangements for children and their parents following parental separation. They included better management of family cases by the courts, new 'parenting plans', and more child contact and conciliation services.
Source: Parental Separation: Children's Needs and Parents' Responsibilities - Next Steps, Cm 6452, Department for Constitutional Affairs, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 18 January 2005, columns 30-31WS, TSO
Links: Report (pdf) | Hansard | DCA press release | CAFCASS press release (pdf) | One Parent Families press release | SFLA press release | Guardian report | Children Now report
Date: 2005-Jan
A survey of lawyers who advised on divorce cases found that pressure from other family members was responsible for nearly one-fifth of all marriage break-ups. The main cause of marital breakdown was a partner having an affair.
Source: Press release 23 January 2005, Grant Thornton (020 7383 5100)
Links: Grant Thornton press release | Observer report
Date: 2005-Jan