Wrexham to be part of new family court pilot to stop ‘victims and their children feeling re-traumatised’ by process

Victims of domestic abuse will receive better support as part of a new approach being piloted in family courts – with Wrexham part of the scheme.

UK Government have said the new pilot launched at family courts in North Wales and Dorset aims to “improve information sharing between agencies such as the police, local authorities and the courts”. This could include local domestic abuse professionals sharing risk assessments with the court to spare victims and parties in the case the trauma of having to unnecessarily repeat their experiences.

Crucially they say it will also boost the voice of children at every stage of the process, ensuring they are listened to and their views are taken into account when decisions are made about their futures. It will see children given more opportunity to explain how they feel and, following a court order, to say whether it is working for them.

The pilots work by allowing judges to review gathered information and request more documentation before a case gets to court. It avoids the circumstances of the case being debated in the courtroom, which can often exacerbate conflict between parents. The pilot will also encourage proceedings to be less adversarial so that more emphasis can be put into investigating and addressing allegations of domestic abuse and other harmful behaviours – rather than allowing confrontation in the courtroom to take place.

Between three months and a year after a ruling is made, in most cases the courts and the agencies involved will carry out a review to ensure decisions made are working well. This includes assessing whether court orders are being followed and whether additional support is needed.

Justice Minister Lord Wolfson QC said: “This government is doing everything we can to protect victims, make them feel safer, and give them greater confidence in the justice system.

“These pilots will help ensure victims of domestic abuse aren’t further traumatised by the court process and that better decisions are made about their and their children’s lives.

“This, alongside our landmark Domestic Abuse Act, will ensure that victims are loudly heard and fully supported.”

The pilot follows from a review of Family Courts which found that an adversarial process often worsened conflict between parents and could have a damaging impact on victims and their children.

The announcement forms part of UK Government’s reforms to “transform the way family courts operate”, contained in the Domestic Abuse Act. These include a ban on perpetrators cross-examining their victims as well as measures to prevent them from repeatedly bringing their ex-partners back to court – which can be used as a form of continuing domestic abuse.

Nicole Jacobs, Domestic Abuse Commissioner for England and Wales said, “Every day I hear from domestic abuse survivors about their experiences in the family courts. Many victims and their children feel re-traumatised by the process which is why seeing improvements in the family courts is one of my top priorities as Commissioner

“I am delighted to see the Harm Panel’s recommendation to test a more investigative approach to domestic abuse cases now being piloted.

“Crucial to the success of these pilots will be ensuring that domestic abuse – particularly coercive control and the impact it has on adult and child victims – is fully understood and the risk it poses to survivors and children is taken into account throughout the proceedings.”

Rhian Lewis, Head of Operations / Deputy CEO, Domestic Abuse Safety Unit (DASU) North Wales added, “DASU are very excited to be actively involved in the pathfinder’s pilot in North Wales.

“Many of the families that we support have felt let down by the Family Courts system stating that they felt that no one was listening to their experiences of domestic abuse and that perpetrators were able to continue to control and abuse them through this process. Survivors of domestic abuse have suffered enough.

“The Pathfinder pilot is a real opportunity to change the way that we support families that experience domestic abuse by recognising the risk, addressing safeguarding issues, reducing re-traumatisation and putting children and their non-abusive parent at the heart of the process. This system will improve their quality of life and put a stop to perpetrators being able to use the Family Courts as a means of exercising their control.

The investigative pilot will be tested initially in Wrexham as well as Bournemouth and Weymouth in Dorset, and Caernarfon, Mold, Prestatyn in North Wales for up to two years before a full evaluation.