Major Overhaul of Family Justice System Announced
Family courts in England and Wales have been declared "not good enough" by government minister Alison Levitt, who has announced sweeping reforms to address what she describes as decades of unfair treatment towards women and children. The Labour peer, who served as Keir Starmer's principal legal adviser during his tenure as director of public prosecutions, revealed that the current adversarial system will be replaced with a "problem-solving", child-focused model designed to reduce trauma and cut delays.
Rebalancing a Historically Unfair System
Levitt stated that the changes will "rebalance" a system that has long failed to treat women fairly. "It is historically so obvious that women have been victims [in the justice system], that there is a justification for putting in measures to bring them up, to make it fairer for them," she explained. The minister emphasized that change must occur "throughout the justice system, including in the family justice system, to make sure that [victims] are not, for example, being retraumatised by going through the family courts."
When asked whether she believed the justice system treated women fairly based on her observations since being called to the bar in 1988, Levitt responded that the situation was "more complicated" than simple sexism, but added: "I think that women have not received fair treatment, but things have been improving. And do I think that it will be fairer still by the end of this parliament? Absolutely."
New Child-Focused Model to Become Standard
The new approach, which centers on child welfare and seeks out-of-court resolutions, will now become the standard model for all section 8 cases. These cases involve child arrangements including where a child lives, who they have contact with, and how much time they spend with each parent. The Ministry of Justice reports that pilot programs in Dorset and north Wales, introduced in 2022, have already demonstrated significant benefits:
- Reduced child trauma
- Cut backlog of cases
- Decreased waiting times substantially
Justice Secretary David Lammy highlighted the impact of faster resolutions: "For a child, every additional month waiting to find out where you will live can feel like forever. This approach has delivered striking results in pilots, cutting backlogs in half and resolving cases up to seven-and-a-half months faster. For a child living through family breakdown, and for victims of abuse, that difference is life-changing."
Addressing Domestic Abuse and Parental Alienation
Campaigners for family court reform have long argued that abusers manipulate the system to control ex-partners, sometimes making counter-allegations to "alienate" children. Levitt addressed concerns about unregulated "experts" in parental alienation, stating the concept was "not something that's capable of definition or of scientific proof in any way, shape or form."
Regarding the treatment of domestic abuse victims in family courts, Levitt was unequivocal: "It is just not good enough ... Whenever we leave office, the situation in terms of violence against women and girls will have improved because it's an uncivilised way to behave. It's just unjust. You can't care about justice if you don't care about this."
The minister cited "fact-finding" hearings where victims were "cross-examined up hill and down dale" as particularly problematic, viewing reforms not as sexist but as necessary rebalancing: "If you've got an injustice to start off with, it's not sexist to try and put that right."
Implementation and Expansion Plans
The child-focused courts pilot, which began in Dorset and north Wales in 2022 and has since expanded to ten additional court areas, will now be rolled out to thirteen more locations. The Ministry of Justice plans to implement the model across all remaining court areas before the end of the current parliament.
Key features of the new system include:
- Early examination of family circumstances, including domestic abuse allegations
- Involvement of Cafcass, Cafcass Cymru, or local authorities from the outset
- Participation of independent domestic violence advisers
- Child Impact Reports ordered at the start of proceedings
Andrew McFarlane, president of the family law division, called the early Child Impact Reports a "gamechanger" that provides courts with crucial understanding of how disputes affect children, resulting in fewer hearings that benefit "families and indeed the whole system."
Measuring Success Beyond Speed
While welcoming the expansion, Lisa Harker, director of Nuffield Family Justice Observatory, cautioned: "It is important that we measure how children experience proceedings and whether their lives improve, not just how quickly decisions are made."
The reforms are part of broader Ministry of Justice efforts to tackle court backlogs. Additional measures in the Victims and Courts bill will remove parental responsibility from those convicted of serious sexual offences against children, including cases where a child is born of rape, providing greater protection for vulnerable families.
