A paper said that new legislation to relax the restrictions on media reporting of family court cases lacked sufficient clarity about what could be reported, and could put the privacy of vulnerable children at risk.
Source: Robert George and Ceridwen Roberts, The Media and Family Courts: Key information and questions about the Children, Schools and Families Bill, Department of Social Policy and Social Work/University of Oxford
Links: Paper | Oxford University press release | Nuffield Foundation press release | Children & Young People Now report
Date: 2009-Dec
A study examined the potential for introducing adults to learning about legal matters affecting them, such as debt advice, making a will, family law, and citizenship.
Source: Howard Gannaway and Lorraine Casey, Potential for Public Legal Education in Adult Learning: Report on a consultation with adult learning experts, National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (0116 204 4200)
Links: Report | NIACE press release
Date: 2009-Nov
A report examined the relationship between civil legal aid advisors and their clients.
Source: Time Well-Spent: The importance of the one-to-one relationship between advice workers and their clients, Council on Social Action/Community Links (020 7473 2270)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Nov
An independent review made recommendations designed to improve the regulation of legal services.
Source: The Hunt Review of the Regulation of Legal Services, Law Society (020 7242 1222)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Oct
The government announced a review into the delivery of legal aid. Sir Ian Magee would assess the delivery and governance arrangements of the legal aid system, and make recommendations.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 13 October 2009, columns 23-24WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | MOJ press release
Date: 2009-Oct
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on family legal aid reform.
Source: Family Legal Aid Reform: Government Response to the Committee's Eighth Report, Fifth Special Report (Session 2008-09), HC 1018, House of Commons Justice Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Response | MPs report
Date: 2009-Oct
Researchers examined the early implementation of the 'Public Law Outline' – a tool for the judicial case management of children's care proceedings.
Source: Patricia Jessiman, Peter Keogh and Julia Brophy, An Early Process Evaluation of the Public Law Outline in Family Courts, Research Report 10/09, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Report | Community Care report
Date: 2009-Aug
The government began consultation on proposals to 'rebalance' the legal aid budget, designed to make better use of the criminal legal aid budget and to reform and rationalize payment structures.
Source: Legal Aid: Funding Reforms, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Consultation document | MOJ press release | Bar Council press release | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Aug
The government published its response to an official review of access to justice for consumers and small businesses in collective claims. It said that collective actions would be best taken forward on a sector by sector basis, and that the creation of a generic right of action would 'not be appropriate'.
Source: The Government's Response to the Civil Justice Council's Report: 'Improving Access to Justice through Collective Actions', Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Response | CJC report | Hansard
Date: 2009-Jul
The government began consultation on proposals to reform the legal aid rules in order to ensure that limited resources were focused on priority cases. The changes proposed included: strengthening public interest considerations in deciding whether to grant civil legal aid; ceasing to provide funding for low-priority civil and criminal matters, where issues could be resolved instead through complaints procedures or ombudsman schemes; restricting access to civil legal aid for those not resident in the United Kingdom; and notifying the other side when civil legal aid was applied for, to discourage fraudulent applications.
Source: Legal Aid: Refocusing on Priority Cases, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Consultation document
Date: 2009-Jul
A report by a committee of MPs said that the reformed family legal aid structure being designed by the Legal Services Commission seemed to be based on a pattern of supply that 'simply does not yet exist'. The Commission appeared to have failed to take an objective evidence-based approach to delivering the outcomes identified for it by the government.
Source: Family Legal Aid Reform, Eighth Report (Session 2008-09), HC 714, House of Commons Justice Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Jul
A report put forward a blueprint for effective legal advice services for young people. Young people primarily wanted and needed advice face-to-face, rather than by mobile or online. A strong one-to-one relationship between adviser and young person was vital to improving the young person's chances in the long term. Advice should be provided in a place where young people already went for help, such as youth drop-in centres, rather than legal centres.
Source: Pamela Verma and Mandy Wilkins, Rights Within Reach: Developing effective legal advice outreach services for young people, Youth Access (020 8772 9900)
Date: 2009-Jun
A briefing paper examined attempts in a variety of countries to open family courts to access by the media, and considered the lessons for similar reforms in England and Wales.
Source: Julia Brophy with Ceridwen Roberts, 'Openness and Transparency' in Family Courts: What the experience of other countries tells us about reform in England and Wales, Family Policy Briefing 5, Department of Social Policy and Social Work/University of Oxford (01865 270325)
Links: Briefing
Date: 2009-Jun
The government announced (following consultation) increases in civil court fees from July 2009, designed to ensure that they reflected the true cost of the work done by the courts. Those paying the increased fees would be able to recover costs from the defendant if a claim were successful.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 18 June 2009, columns 32-35WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | MOJ press release | Consultation responses | Consultation document
Date: 2009-Jun
A study examined the impact of legal aid reform, trends in funding, and the recession on the provision of local legal advice.
Source: Study of Legal Advice at Local Level, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Report | Hansard | MOJ press release | LSC press release
Date: 2009-Jun
A new book examined the role of the law in settling family disputes, focusing on the activities of barristers. It said that barristers were both mentors and guides for their clients, and that society should value their contribution more.
Source: Mavis Maclean and John Eekelaar, Family Law Advocacy: How barristers help the victims of family failure, Hart Publishing (01865 517530)
Links: Summary
Date: 2009-May
A study examined access to justice for vulnerable groups, focusing on black and minority-ethnic groups, Gypsies and Travellers, refugees and asylum-seekers, and individuals in a minority group on the basis of sexuality.
Source: Paul Mason, Nathan Hughes and Allan Norman with Rachel Hek, Basia Spalek and Nicola Ward, Access to Justice: A review of existing evidence of the experiences of minority groups based on ethnicity, identity and sexuality, Research Report 7/09, Ministry of Justice (020 7210 8500)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-May
The preliminary report was published of a review of civil litigation costs. Following the retraction of legal aid, either conditional fee agreements or some other system of payment by result 'needed to exist' in order to facilitate access to justice. It was 'wrong in principle' that the entire cost – or most of the cost – of the civil justice system should be shifted from taxpayers to litigants.
Source: Lord Justice Jackson, Review of Civil Litigation Costs: Preliminary Report, Judicial Communications Office/Office of the Lord Chief Justice (general.enquiries@judiciary.gsi.gov.uk)
Links: Report part 1 | Report part 2 | Appendices | JCO press release | Bar Council press release
Date: 2009-May
A report examined the provision of legal advice and representation in England, Scotland, and Wales on equality and human rights legislation.
Source: John Borland et al., Responding to Discrimination: The geography and geometry of advice provision in England, Scotland and Wales, Equality and Human Rights Commission (020 3117 0235)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-May
A report said that the legal aid system had fallen short of its original aims. There was a marked difference between the numbers of cases pursued to enforce rights and the many potential cases that people never took up – either because they were not aware of their rights or because they decided it was not worth the trouble to take it further.
Source: Steve Hynes and Jon Robins, The Justice Gap: Whatever happened to legal aid?, Legal Action Group (020 7833 2931)
Links: Summary | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Apr
Reporters were allowed access to family courts for the first time, although no details could be reported unless a judge gave his specific permission.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 27 April 2009, columns 37-38WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | BBC report | Community Care report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Apr
A report said that repeated cuts in legal aid pay were driving expert family barristers away from work representing the interests of vulnerable women and children.
Source: Debora Price and Anne Laybourne, The Work of the Family Bar: Report of the Week-at-a-Glance Survey 2008, Family Law Bar Association (020 7242 1289)
Links: Report | Bar Council press release | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Mar