Consultation on Government plans for mandatory mediation instead of family courts - even in cases of DV?

[IwantToRetire]

I'm posting this as have just seen that the WRC is asking for opinions on this and in case anyone wants to contribute to their survey by 19th May 2023

See details here https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/2LWKDYZ

The actual Government consultation is here if you want to reply directly, and closes on 15th June 2023

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/plans-to-protect-children-under-new-mediation-reforms

I’m confused. Mandatory mediation was I thought already required for financial agreements? Have I got that wrong?
I know you could be exempted if reasonable grounds, but on financial side I thought that had been in place for some time
I went through agreement with ex, and got consent order with little solicitor involvement so we never needed mediate , but reading the process through at the time I thought this was already the case.
children we’re adults, so assume this is more about bringing child arrangements into line with financial arrangements?

and I’ve just checked on government site . It states “You must attend a meeting about mediation before you can apply to the court to decide - except in certain cases (if there’s been domestic abuse, for example).”

this is the MIAM assessment , so that is compulsory. So, really not sure this os about financial side .

Thanks for flagging, OP.

Says 'proposals will see mediation become mandatory in all suitable low-level family court cases excluding those which include allegations or a history of domestic violence'

And 'Making mediation compulsory will allow the family courts to better prioritise and provide protection for the most serious cases with safeguarding concerns where it is not an option, such as domestic abuse and child safety.'

whiteroomjoy

Thousands of children could be protected from witnessing their parents thrash out family disputes through the courts, following plans to mandate mediation for separating families announced today (23 March 2023).

ArabellaScott

Was just quoting WRC who are funded to represent women's groups, so assumed they knew what they were talking about.

I haven't had time to read all the pages, on 3 separate web pages (!!) But thought generally FWR would be interesed as I dont remember any publicity about mandatory mediation.

I wonder in WRC misread this paragraph:

Making mediation compulsory will allow the family courts to better prioritise and provide protection for the most serious cases with safeguarding concerns where it is not an option, such as domestic abuse and child safety.

Perhaps it's to do with a detail regarding evidence?

'The government is proposing mandatory mediation with court action being a last resort. What will the impact be on women who do not have 'evidence' of their abuse?'

https://twitter.com/whywomen/status/1656954396612149248?cxt=HHwWgIC2sdXP1_4tAAAA

'The government wants to clear the backlog and fast track domestic violence (DV) cases by making mediation compulsory for those cases that are currently exempt, which includes cases where there is evidence of DV'

That seems to contradict what the gov page says?

'The guidance currently states that women can be exempt from mediation (MIAMs) in the family courts if they can show:

• their abuser was arrested for a domestic violence offence
• details of any criminal proceedings against perpetrators
• written evidence from a medical practitioner
• written evidence from a domestic abuse organisation, or other professional body to show that domestic abuse has taken place.'

If the gov was proposing to make it harder for women to show evidence of dv, then I can see their point.

I'll have a proper read through of the consultation. This is it here:

https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/private-family-law-consultation/

there is a whole section in the consultation info document on DV, and child abuse.

It seems to have been written wtih that in mind. Perhaps WRC have more indepth knowledge, wrt evidence, but I can't really see where this is discussed in the document.

The quote from the Why Women twitter account (which I think is a WRC campaign) are the questions they ask in their survey.

So what you suggest most be the motive for wanting to input.

If you have experienced DV but never reported it and are now trying to leave the perpetrator how would you evidence this. Especially if the only witnesses are children and the whole point of this process is to save children from being part of the arguement.

I might see in Women's Aid has any comments on this.

Cant find any referenc on Women's Aid (WAFE) website.

But there is this in one of the documents re consultation:

Domestic Abuse

Improving our response to domestic abuse remains a Government priority. Within the family courts, the Government is committed to better protecting survivors of domestic abuse and other forms of abuse. We know that around half of the families coming to the family courts to resolve child arrangements have experienced domestic abuse; that is why it is so important to improve the way survivors are treated by the family courts. The proposals presented in this consultation should have a positive impact on how survivors of domestic abuse are treated because there will be more court time available to review and resolve their applications at a greater rate.

In 2021 this Government passed the landmark Domestic Abuse Act 202127 which changed the way domestic abuse is considered and how victims and survivors participate in court proceedings. The Act creates, for the first time, a statutory definition of domestic abuse, to ensure that domestic abuse is properly understood, considered unacceptable and actively challenged across statutory agencies and in public attitudes. The definition of domestic abuse now includes all forms of abusive behaviour including controlling or coercive behaviour, economic abuse, psychological and emotional abuse, physical or sexual abuse and violent or threatening behaviour.

Cases featuring domestic abuse can be considerably more complex than other private law disputes. Cases involving domestic abuse or where there is otherwise a risk of harm to the child may also require the involvement of other agencies, such as Cafcass and Cafcass Cymru, and require further evidence gathering and reporting to the court, which may increase the length of time a case takes to progress.

The 2020 report “Assessing the Risk of Harm to children and parents in private law cases”27 found that families who have experienced domestic abuse are often in high conflict and that power imbalances in the relationship mean they are unlikely to be suitable for mediation or other non-court dispute resolution. They may also require additional hearings to help understand all of the facts of what has taken place within the family, and to know whether alleged domestic abuse, or other harms, occurred.

https://consult.justice.gov.uk/digital-communications/private-family-law-consultation/supporting_documents/supportingearlierresolutionofprivatefamilylawarrangementsconsultationweb.pdf