Parents4protest are critical of the UK Family Court system while children are put at risk because politicians, civil servants, judges and lawyers have not bothered to read up what social science and what research has uncovered.

As divorce rates soar, thousands of dads are realising they have NO right in English law to see their kids after a family breakdown. Children who grow up without their fathers have been shown to be much more likely to suffer abuse, do badly at school, get into trouble and end up in broken relationships, starting the cycle all over again - Civitas. As well as the emotional toll of break-ups on kids and their fathers, the direct costs to the nation in benefits, housing, lost earnings and court and legal fees have been estimated at £15billion a year.

 

Harry and Jake pictured here with Layton in March 2004

Layton Bevan. Campaigner for Open Justice in the Family Courts of England and Wales:- Daily Mail - January 31, 2008 Camden Journal - September 06, 2007 Guardian UK - April 19, 2006 BBC Wales TV - April 04, 2005 Guardian UK - October 05, 2005 Daily Mail - August 22, 2005 BBC News - May 26, 2005 SWEP - November 15, 2005 SWEP - October 24, 2003 SWEP - October 16, 2003 BBC Wales TV - June 13, 2003 SWEP - June 10, 2003

 

A campaigner for open justice in the family courts of England and Wales I echo the voices of senior judges and the majority of MP’s that the curtain of secrecy is damaging public confidence in the administration of justice. I was a member of Fathers4Justice in 2003 who may have forced attention on the secrecy of the family courts, but I later found after launching P4p in 2004 followed by Fassit in 2005 that many more thousands of families had been suffering in silence. Parents accused of child abuse by social services and gagged by the family courts for example, often removing children from their families on flimsy or dubious untested evidence.

 

I uncovered miscarriages of justice which were widespread in the family justice system in both private and public proceedings. Its a disgrace that the travesty of the UK family courts are not working in the interests of children and P4p supports the UK Times newspaper ten-point plan to make our courts system fairer and safeguard it from forces which are largely unaccountable:-

1. Open family courts to the press in all but exceptional circumstances (as recommended by the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee).

2.Let any parent or carer accused of abuse call any witnesses they need in their defence. At the moment, they are routinely refused permission to do so.

3.Give automatic permission for parents who are refused legal aid to get a lay adviser to help them present their case. This is routinely refused.

4.Remove the restrictions that prevent families from talking about their case (as recommended by the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee).

5.Review the definition of “emotional abuse” across local authorities, to make sure that it cannot become a catch-all for overzealous officials.

6.Provide an automatic right for parents to receive copies of case conference notes and all evidence used against them in court, just as they would in a criminal trial.

7.Create an independent body to oversee the actions of social services, with proper sanctions. If that body is to be the General Social Care Council, make it easier for parents to go directly to that body rather than having to face delays from the local authority.

8.Let children in care waive their right to privacy if they wish to speak out. For gagging children is surely not consistent with promoting their welfare.

9.Restructure CAFCASS, the Family Court Advisory Service, from being an organisation that reports on the parents to the courts to one that actively promotes the parenting needs of children. The primary focus should cease to be assisting the court process. It should be diverting parents away from contested hearings into the making of parenting plans.

10.Review the recent legal aid cut-backs that are deterring lawyers from taking on these complex family cases. It is quite wrong that desperate parents are unable to find a lawyer to help them in their time of need.

 

Layton Bevan

Campaigner for Open Justice in the Family Courts of England and Wales

Email: contact@parents4protest.co.uk

Tel: 01639 620567