Rising number of litigants in person due to legal aid cuts exposes family courts crisis

The latest Ministry of Justice figures show 13,029 new private family law applications were made between April and June 2017. In 36% of these applications neither the Applicant nor the Respondent were legally represented.

The lord chief justice, Lord Thomas of Cymgiedd, told the House of Commons justice committee that the rise in private law cases was ‘deeply worrying’.

Lord Thomas also quite rightly said that forcing parties to family disputes to confront each other in court without lawyers can often make matters between them even worse. The prospect of even more litigants in person in the family courts has also raised concerns that violent partners may use the courts to bully their victims.

The court is also faced with the difficult task of explaining issues to litigants in person that lawyers would routinely know about and that the Court cannot advise them what to do. Many litigants in person may do their case damage by adopting the wrong approach and making applications which are without any merit or not complying with the correct procedures.

If you are worried about going through the court process and need representation from a professional family law solicitor contact a member of our team today on 0161 927 3118.