Keeping family courts and children’s services working during the pandemic
Things are opening up again but remote family courts seem here to stay. How can we be sure the family court service best meets the needs of users?
The President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane, requested Nuffield Family Justice Observatory run two consultations on remote practice in the family court.
The aim was to monitor and explore how audio and video hearings were being experienced. This included telephone and audiovisual videoconferencing methods.
More than 2,300 parents, relatives and professionals took part, exploring how virtual courts were performing in delivering justice for families.
You can read more about the consultations at the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory website: https://www.nuffieldfjo.org.uk/our-work/covid-19#info
Part of their work involves researching how the wellbeing of children and families be improved following parental separation and divorce.