London: improvements in handling of cases under threat

Recent improvements in the speed at which family and child law cases in London are listed could be lost if Lord Carter's fixed-fee proposals leave many people unrepresented, it has been claimed.


The average time taken in the capital for family cases from start to finish between April and August 2006 was around 45 weeks, according to statistics provided by the Courts Service. That figure rose to 58 weeks for cases dealt with at the Principal Registry.


The service told the Gazette that these figures represented a year-on-year reduction of about five weeks. Its statistics also revealed a 27% jump in the number of public law care applications from 2004 to 2005.


The Law Society launched a campaign for the acceleration of family case listings in London in November 2005. Christina Blacklaws, chairwoman of its family law committee, said: 'Every case in London experiences unacceptable delay and I know there is a lot of work going on in the court system to address this.'


But she added: 'No matter how hard the Courts Service is working to make the system run more smoothly, if the Carter proposals mean people are going to be unrepresented, there will be even more cases coming to court, with more litigants in person and even greater delays.'


However, Anthony Kirk QC, chairman of the Family Law Barristers Association, said he was not disheartened by the figures and the courts were working well in many cases.


'The protocol says child cases should be dealt with in 40 weeks, but so much depends on the individual case,' he said.


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