Spotlight on the Family Courts

The Bar of Northern Ireland recently held another event as part of its Leaders in Legal Excellence discussion series. The series has been running throughout the 2018-2019 legal year and has created a conversation space for representatives of the legal and justice sectors to come together and explore ideas and opportunities on topical policy areas. The panel discussion, chaired by Bar of Northern Ireland Chair Sarah Ramsey BL, centred on “Families in Crisis: Spotlight on the Role of the Family Courts in Northern Ireland” and featured a range of expert speakers with Senior Family Judge Mr Justice O’Hara, former Justice Minister Claire Sugden MLA, Family Bar Association Chair Louise Murphy BL, Deputy Editor of The Detail Lindsay Fergus and National Director of the British Association of Social Workers Carolyn Ewart.

Chair Sarah Ramsey BL opened by highlighting that Northern Ireland’s society is more diverse and our family dynamics are more complex than ever before. Meanwhile cases in the family courts are reflecting this as they become increasingly complicated, particularly in relation to the care of children under The Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995, yet resourcing pressures on the system are continuing to increase. Mr Justice O’Hara highlighted that legislation in this area is falling behind today’s society with delays becoming an increasing feature of these cases whilst Louise Murphy BL referenced our three key piece of legislation in this area as being at least twenty years old with The Children (Northern Ireland) Order 1995, The Adoption (Northern Ireland) Order 1987 and the Matrimonial Causes (Northern Ireland) Order 1978. Louise Murphy BL also stressed that those working in the court system are trying to keep up with changes across society even though legislative reform is necessary in many of these areas.

Access to support services featured as a topical issue with concerns from the panel that psychological and therapeutic interventions in the community are under extreme pressure. Carolyn Ewart spoke of the challenges faced by social workers in dealing with families in crisis and the need to ensure that we “do not lose the voice of the child given the competing needs of adult participants”. Despite the importance of working with these families, voluntary and community sector support services have been “decimated” at a time when social services in this jurisdiction are seeing increased referrals with 36,000 last year alone. Meanwhile former Justice Minister Claire Sugden MLA referred to the outcomes based approach contained in the Draft Programme for Government Framework 2016-21 which brought a new focus to joined up Government services yet resourcing pressures on the community and voluntary sector often mean organisations are forced to compete against each other on service delivery.

Panellists also considered the Gillen Review of Family Justice published in 2017 which provided an important opportunity to examine ways to help improve access to justice and also achieve better outcomes for court users, particularly families and children. Each chose a top recommendation for change with Louise Murphy BL highlighting the importance of the “one-stop shop” concept to prioritise early intervention and Mr Justice O’Hara focusing on the report’s important focus on reducing delay across the system. An enhanced role for mediation services was addressed by Lindsay Fergus and Carolyn Ewart with the issue of personal litigants also highlighted by audience members given the ways in which the review considered the need to balance their rights and legitimate expectations for suitable assistance with the requirement for a fair, effective and efficient court system.

Mr Justice O’Hara also spoke about open justice and the recent trial allowing nominated media representatives access to the Family Division of the High Court, highlighting the Lord Chief Justice’s commitment that greater access will be facilitated whilst recognising the need to balance responsible reporting with the privacy of the parties involved. Lindsay Fergus highlighted her view that the media should be in the family courts but that this must be restricted to accredited journalists. Meanwhile Carolyn Ewart noted the importance of the wider public understanding the work of the family courts but expressed her doubts around whether children and families should be exposed to such scrutiny given the risks of jigsaw identification.

Finally, the panel also spoke about domestic abuse with Mr Justice O’Hara acknowledging that the family courts are seeing the impact of domestic abuse “on a daily basis” and Claire Sudgen MLA reiterating the need for action on this issue which was one of her Ministerial priorities. Panellists also discussed the suggestion that the creation of a domestic abuse offence could be taken forward under Westminster’s Domestic Abuse Bill in the autumn.

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Find out more about our last Leaders in Legal Excellence Event - “Stormont Stalemate: politicians, civil servants or the courts – who decides?”