Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the compulsory digital training on domestic abuse introduced for family judges, magistrates, and legal advisers in October 2021; how many individuals have completed the training; how frequently it is delivered or refreshed; and what evaluation has been conducted of its effectiveness in improving outcomes in the family courts.
Answered by Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
To preserve judicial independence, statutory responsibility for the training of the courts judiciary in England and Wales is held by the Lady Chief Justice and fulfilled by the Judicial College. It would therefore be constitutionally inappropriate for the Government to undertake assessments of judicial training.
I am aware that the Judicial College launched updated digital training on domestic abuse for all family judges in October 2021 and for magistrates and their legal advisers in November 2021. The judicial training and magistrates and legal adviser training were mandatory.
This was followed in 2022/23 by an intensive one-year programme of mandatory live training for family judges on the harms of domestic abuse, which was also offered to judges in the civil jurisdiction, and intensive mandatory continuation training for family magistrates and legal advisers.
Domestic abuse remains a central part of induction and continuation training for all judges, magistrates and legal advisers who hear family cases. Training is regularly evaluated and reviewed by the Judicial College and updated as appropriate.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many transfers of residency orders have been issued by family courts in the past two years; and of those, (1) how many were issued following findings or allegations of parental alienation, and (2) how many were made in favour of a parent previously accused of child sexual abuse.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
Transfers of residency orders, incidences of findings of child sexual abuse in private law proceedings, and cases involving allegations of parental alienation or alienating behaviours are not recorded centrally. Such information could only be obtained by analysis of individual case files at disproportionate costs.
Regarding the term “parental alienation”: as part of his judgment in the case of Re C, the President of the Family Division outlined that most family judges regard the label of “parental alienation”, and the idea that it “may be a diagnosable syndrome” as being “unhelpful”. He noted that instead the courts should focus on identifying any specific “alienating behaviours”.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many cases involving allegations of parental alienation or alienating behaviours have been heard in private law family proceedings in each of the past five years; and how many findings of parental alienation or alienating behaviours were made in those proceedings.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
Transfers of residency orders, incidences of findings of child sexual abuse in private law proceedings, and cases involving allegations of parental alienation or alienating behaviours are not recorded centrally. Such information could only be obtained by analysis of individual case files at disproportionate costs.
Regarding the term “parental alienation”: as part of his judgment in the case of Re C, the President of the Family Division outlined that most family judges regard the label of “parental alienation”, and the idea that it “may be a diagnosable syndrome” as being “unhelpful”. He noted that instead the courts should focus on identifying any specific “alienating behaviours”.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many cases involving allegations of child sexual abuse perpetrated by a parent have been heard in private law family proceedings in the past two years; and how many findings of child sexual abuse were made in those proceedings.
Answered by Lord Bellamy
Transfers of residency orders, incidences of findings of child sexual abuse in private law proceedings, and cases involving allegations of parental alienation or alienating behaviours are not recorded centrally. Such information could only be obtained by analysis of individual case files at disproportionate costs.
Regarding the term “parental alienation”: as part of his judgment in the case of Re C, the President of the Family Division outlined that most family judges regard the label of “parental alienation”, and the idea that it “may be a diagnosable syndrome” as being “unhelpful”. He noted that instead the courts should focus on identifying any specific “alienating behaviours”.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how the Judicial College has updated training on domestic abuse since April.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar - Shadow Attorney General
To preserve the independence of the judiciary, the Lord Chief Justice (LCJ), the Senior President of the Tribunals, and the Chief Coroner have statutory responsibility for judicial training, under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, and Coroners and Justice Act 2009 respectively. These responsibilities are exercised through the Judicial College. The judiciary and professional staff in the Judicial College are responsible for the design, content, and delivery of judicial training.
I understand that, since April this year, the Chair of the Judicial College, in consultation with the President of the Family Division, has led work to review judicial training on domestic abuse. Refreshed and updated specialist digital training on domestic abuse was launched in October 2021 for all family judges, including Recorders and Deputy District Judges. In addition, from October 2021, new digital domestic abuse training is being rolled out to meet the needs of all magistrates and legal advisers.
New training that addresses the attitudinal and behavioural issues raised in recent caselaw, the MoJ Harm Report and the Domestic Abuse Act will be rolled out from April 2022 and will form a substantial part of compulsory family and civil continuation training seminars for the 2022/23 training year.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many meetings ministers have had with (1) the President of the Family Division, and (2) the Chair of the Judicial College, since April; and in how many of those meetings judicial training on domestic abuse was discussed.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar - Shadow Attorney General
Since April 2021, ministers have met with the senior judiciary regularly to discuss a range of issues related to the administration of the justice system and the courts and tribunals.
To preserve the independence of the judiciary, the Lord Chief Justice (LCJ), the Senior President of the Tribunals, and the Chief Coroner have statutory responsibility for judicial training, under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, and Coroners and Justice Act 2009 respectively. These responsibilities are exercised through the Judicial College. The judiciary and professional staff in the Judicial College are responsible for the design, content, and delivery of judicial training.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what training on domestic abuse members of the judiciary and magistrates in England are required to undertake.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar - Shadow Attorney General
To preserve the independence of the judiciary, the Lord Chief Justice (LCJ), the Senior President of the Tribunals, and the Chief Coroner have statutory responsibility for judicial training, under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, and Coroners and Justice Act 2009 respectively. These responsibilities are exercised through the Judicial College. The judiciary and professional staff in the Judicial College are responsible for the design, content, and delivery of judicial training.
Judicial training in domestic abuse is included in family law and criminal courses run by the Judicial College. It is prioritised for induction and continuation training for magistrates and judges. The training reflects the wide-ranging nature of domestic abuse and covers all areas recognised by the Government as abuse, ranging from serious sexual and other assaults, emotional abuse, coercive and controlling behaviour, including financial coercion and control. Training is kept under constant review and is regularly updated to reflect latest developments.
Asked by: Baroness Helic (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of Judicial College training on (1) practice, and (2) outcomes, in the family courts.
Answered by Lord Wolfson of Tredegar - Shadow Attorney General
The Ministry of Justice has not undertaken any assessment of the impact of Judicial College training on practice and outcomes in the family courts. To preserve the independence of the judiciary, the Lord Chief Justice (LCJ), the Senior President of the Tribunals, and the Chief Coroner have statutory responsibility for judicial training, under the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007, and Coroners and Justice Act 2009 respectively. Training responsibilities are exercised through the Judicial College. The judiciary and professional staff in the Judicial College are responsible for the design, content, delivery and evaluation of training for judges and magistrates of the family courts.