Families Need Fathers

FAMILY JUSTICE REVIEW

The Family Justice Review is a review of the family justice system commissioned by the Ministry of Justice, the Department for Education, and the Welsh Assembly Government.

The Review will examine both public and private law cases, explore the use of mediation and examine processes and organisation. 

The agencies and professionals directly involved in the family justice system are all in scope for the Review, including:
• courts
• local authorities
• Cafcass and CAFCASS Cymru
• family lawyers
• mediators, and
• the Legal Services Commission.

The Review is being led by a panel of experts with an independent chair, David Norgrove.
You can find more information about the review on the Ministry of Justice website by clicking here.

The review is the best chance FNF have has to bring change in years.

FNF’s Response


Families Need Fathers is one of the charities giving evidence to the review, in the form of a written submission and a presentation before the panel.
In our submission, the full text of which can be found here, or the executive summary here.

We argue the following:

  • That the current family justice system, generally speaking, fails significantly at meeting the needs of its users. It has a long way to go before meeting the needs in a fair, child-focused, efficient and speedy manner.
  • That the Children Act 1989 should be amended to include a presumption of shared parenting.
  • The system is not cost-effective.
  • The system is unclear and difficult to navigate.
  • That there should be greater transparency. 

We propose a new family law path. You can see the full document by clicking here . Below is a brief summary:

  • All family law solicitors would inform their clients of the newly defined family justice process and shared parenting will be explained from the outset.
  • All parents would be obliged to undergo parenting sessions, before they undertake legal action.
  • The parenting session would be quickly followed (within 4 weeks) by mandatory mediation. Mediation would be provided by registered practitioners, from the legal profession or elsewhere, including McKenzie friends.
  • Once a parenting plan has been agreed the parents will come before a judge who will effectively make a consent order, which can be done by simply registering the agreement with the court, with judges able to hold a hearing where they thought there was good cause. Judicial approval would be given within a defined timeframe, ideally around 4-6 weeks
  •  If parents cannot agree or one parent is resistant to parenting time arrangements they would undergo a high-conflict parenting course.
  • The parents would automatically come before a judge 3 months from the initial agreement to confirm the arrangement is working satisfactorily. If not, a parenting support workshop will be made available.
  • If after an order or parenting plan has been agreed, and one parent breaches the order or arrangement, the parents will have to immediately return to Court, before their assigned judge (where possible) within 24-48 hours to resolve issues.
  • If an order/ parenting plan has been breached parents would have to attend or return to the high-conflict parenting course and they would have to return to court again.

We believe that our proposed path will result in substantial savings to the individual and the state.