FAMILY CASES: authority's plans could mean more hardship

Plans to concentrate all magistrates' court family proceedings in three Greater London courts will only mean more hardship for families already in crisis, specialists warned this week.

The Greater London Magistrates' Courts Authority (GLMCA) has proposed to centralise all magistrates' family courts in three centres.

These would be at Wells Street and Marylebone Road in central London, and Waltham Forest in the north of the capital.

Separating family and criminal cases would provide a more tailored service, the authority said.

Facilities and staff resources - such as informal courts, separate waiting rooms and facilities for children - would be dedicated to this area if the proposals go ahead.

'We are concerned that these plans would mean expensive, lengthy, complicated journeys for families who may be on low incomes and are already suffering the stresses of a difficult family situation,' Law Society president Peter Williamson said.

He claimed the GLMCA's 'original plan' to have centres in the northeast, south-east, north-west and south-west of the capital was the 'absolute minimum required'.

The Solicitors Family Law Association's London region chairwoman Sarah Anticoni pointed out that families in Camden would have to travel across north London to Waltham Forest when, for many of them, central London was closer.

'There will be no magistrates' court south of the river hearing family cases,' she added.

When it announced the three proposed centres in August, the GLMCA said locations in south London such as Greenwich, Woolwich, Tower Bridge and Balham had been considered.

But they were unsuitable as the boroughs provided too few courtrooms and were 'not suitably located for the wider catchment area'.

Chris Baker