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Family
Justice Inquiry
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200405/cmselect/cmconst/116/11602.htm
The
Constitutional Affairs Committee
The Constitutional Affairs Committee is appointed by the House of Commons
to examine the expenditure, administration and policy of the Department
for Constitutional Affairs and associated public bodies.
Current
membership
Rt Hon Alan
Beith MP (Liberal Democrat, Berwick-upon-Tweed) (Chairman)
Peter Bottomley MP
(Conservative, Worthing West)
Mr James Clappison
MP (Conservative, Hertsmere)
Ross Cranston MP (Labour,
Dudley North)
Mrs Ann Cryer MP (Labour,
Keighley)
Mr Jim Cunningham MP
(Labour, Coventry South)
Mr Hilton Dawson MP (Labour, Lancaster and Wyre)
Andrew Rosindell MP (Conservative, Romford)
Mr Clive Soley MP (Labour, Ealing, Acton and Shepherd's Bush)
Keith Vaz MP (Labour,
Leicester East)
Dr Alan Whitehead MP
(Labour, Southampton Test)
Family
Justice Inquiry
On 20 September 2004 the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee announced
an inquiry into the operation of the family courts' system. Their decision
was prompted by Government moves for reform as set out in its Green
Paper Parental Separation: Children's Needs and Parents' Responsibilities.
While examining the Government's own proposals, the inquiry focused
on the way in which the courts dealt with child residence and contact
cases, covering a number of key issues,
-
whether
the family court system is being run effectively;
-
whether
family court judges have sufficient powers;
-
court
delays caused by the current system;
-
whether
people using family courts are getting the service they deserve.
The man in
charge of overseeing the review, Liberal Democrat MP Alan Beith, Chairman
of the Committee, indicated that among the many questions they will
be looking at is that of equal access and whether the interests of children
should come first. However, equal access was explicitly ruled out by
Lord Falconer when he announced the publication of the Green Paper on
parental separation in July: “there cannot and will not be an
automatic presumption of 50/50 contact. Children cannot be divided like
the furniture or the CD collection. It's more complex than that".
| Tuesday
9th November 2004 |
- Rt Hon Dame
Elizabeth Butler-Sloss DBE, President, High Court, Family
Division,
- Rt Hon Lord Justice
Wall
- Hon Mr Justice
Munby
- His Honour Judge
Meston QC
- District Judge Michael
Walker
- District Judge Nicholas
Crichton
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| Tuesday
7th December 2004 |
- Christina
Blacklaws and Hilary Lloyd, The Law
Society
- Kim Beatson
and Christopher Goulden, The Solicitors Family
Law Association
- Philip Moor
QC,
The Family Law Bar Association
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| Tuesday
14th December 2004 |
- Hilary
Saunders, Women's Aid
- Ruth
Aitken, Refuge
- Phillip Noyes
and Barbara Esam, NSPCC
- Mavis Maclean
CBE and John Eekelaar, Oxford University
- Anthony Douglas
and Baroness Pitkeathley OBE, CAFCASS
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| Tuesday
11th January 2005 |
- Caroline
Abrahams and Susannah Weekes, NCH
- Margaret
Pendlebury, National Family Mediation
- Tony
Coe, Equal Parenting Council
- John
Baker, Families Need Fathers
- Celia
Conrad, former law practitioner and a legal consultant
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| Tuesday
18th January 2005 |
- Baroness Ashton
of Upholland, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State,
Department for Constitutional Affairs
- Rt Hon Margaret
Hodge MBE MP, Minister of State for Children, Young People
and Families, Department for Education and Skills
|
| 23rd
February 2005 |
Published
Report of the Family Justice Inquiry |
| 23rd
February 2005 |
Written
Evidence
for the Family Justice Inquiry |
| Tuesday
2nd May 2006 |
- Rt Hon Sir Mark
Potter, President of the Family Division
- Hon Mr Justice Munby
- District Judge Nicholas
Crichton
- Audrey Damazer,
Justices' Clerks' Society
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| 6th
June 2006 |
Family
Justice: the operation of the family courts revisited |
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