Family courts in England and Wales ‘not good enough’ for women and children, minister says

‘Problem-solving’, child-focused courts to replace adversarial hearings, with earlier intervention to cut delays

Family courts are “not good enough” and have treated women and children unfairly for decades, a government minister has said.

Announcing a major overhaul of the family justice system in England and Wales that will play a central role in “rebalancing” the family courts, Alison Levitt said often brutal legal showdowns will be replaced with a “problem-solving”, child-focused model.

Part of a move across the Ministry of Justice to tackle court backlogs, the department said child focused courts – which centre on child welfare and seeks out-of-court resolutions – have reduced child trauma, cut a backlog of cases and reduced waiting times.

They will now become the standard model for all section 8 cases, which involve child arrangements including where that child lives, who they have contact with and how long they spend with each parent.