Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress his Department has made on implementing the recommendations from its report of June 2020, Assessing Risk of Harm to Children and Parents in Private Law Children Cases.
The report identified a number of long-standing, systemic issues that require fundamental reform. The Family Justice Reform Implementation Group (FJRIG) is overseeing delivery of the reform agenda.
We are making good progress against several of the commitments outlined in our Implementation Plan published alongside the report. We have launched the review into the ‘presumption of parental involvement’ in private law children cases, and we are developing the ‘Independent Domestic Abuse Courts’ (IDAC) pilot. We are also implementing changes within the Domestic Abuse Bill, including the prohibition of cross examination of victims by perpetrators or alleged perpetrators and automatic eligibility for special measures in the Family Court.
A more detailed delivery updated will be published in the new year.