Family Judge appeals for best use of the Family Court system - continued.

However, alternative dispute resolution methods are available and can often resolve cases more efficiently and with a lower financial cost. Furthermore, the demands on the family court system during the pandemic are such that delays in the system, and thus resolution to cases, is exacerbated.

His Honour Judge Wildblood QC outlines that in his area, January 2021 the Family Court was expected to have double the number of outstanding private law cases that it had in January this year. Already the court has 1.5 times the number of such cases since January. Statistics which show clearly the burden on family courts, which sadly will translate to delays and uncertainty for families and court users.

He states, directly addressing family lawyers: ‘You should settle your differences (or those of your clients) away from court, except where that is not possible’.

As such, we as family law practitioners encourage the public to seek alternative dispute resolution where appropriate is at all possible. As the judge states: ‘The message that we wish to give is that this type of litigation should only come before a court where it is genuinely necessary’.

The Judge was commenting on the the case: Re B (a child) (Unnecessary Private Law Applications).

You can read more in The Law Gazette about this case at this link.