Family Courts: Legal Representation
(asked on 24th October 2019) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many parents had no representation at a family court case relating to a child in each year since 2010.
The number of unrepresented parents in private law Children Act cases is shown in the table below.
Since 2015, we have invested almost £8 million in a support strategy for unrepresented parties. This provides practical support and information as well as routes to free or more affordable legal advice. Public funding remains available for parents in public law Children Act proceedings where a local authority seeks an order to place a child in care or under its supervision, and in private law Children Act cases where there is evidence of domestic or child abuse.
Additionally, we announced in the Legal Support Action Plan in February 2019 that we are providing a further £3m of funding over the next two years to enhance support for litigants in person, ensuring those representing themselves in court understand the process and are better supported through it.
The total number of private law cases started and the number applicants and respondents who had no representation in these cases from 2011 to 2018. |
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Year |
| Total number of cases started5 | Cases with at least one hearing5 |
| Unrepresented Applicants |
| Unrepresented Respondents |
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| Parent | Other3 | Unknown4 | Total |
| Parent | Other3 | Unknown4 | Total |
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2011 |
| 49,067 | 45,907 |
| 10,229 | 2,561 | 296 | 13,086 |
| 19,134 | 1,251 | 5,512 | 25,897 |
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2012 |
| 52,062 | 49,157 |
| 11,586 | 2,525 | 340 | 14,451 |
| 21,122 | 1,243 | 6,343 | 28,708 |
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2013 |
| 54,624 | 51,846 |
| 17,005 | 3,414 | 579 | 20,998 |
| 28,209 | 1,456 | 9,703 | 39,368 |
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2014 |
| 42,114 | 39,776 |
| 16,754 | 3,183 | 829 | 20,766 |
| 21,823 | 907 | 9,165 | 31,895 |
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2015 |
| 43,347 | 41,435 |
| 18,555 | 2,969 | 939 | 22,463 |
| 23,686 | 1,032 | 8,161 | 32,879 |
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2016 |
| 48,246 | 46,258 |
| 21,874 | 3,093 | 1,077 | 26,044 |
| 26,672 | 1,161 | 8,531 | 36,364 |
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2017 |
| 50,652 | 48,635 |
| 24,061 | 3,307 | 931 | 28,299 |
| 30,322 | 1,180 | 6,854 | 38,356 |
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2018 |
| 51,671 | 49,602 |
| 24,900 | 3,164 | 1,041 | 29,105 |
| 30,101 | 1,141 | 7,703 | 38,945 |
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Notes: |
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1) No representation is determined by the field 'legal representation' in Familyman being left blank. Therefore, this is only a proxy measure and parties without a recorded representative are not necessarily self-representing litigants in person. |
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2) In this instance 'at least one hearing' refers to non-vacated scheduled hearings, rather than actual hearings that have taken place. |
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3) 'Other' can refer to Grandparents, Step-Parents, Special Guardians or Children. |
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4) 'Unknown' relations to child can occur in cases where relation to child is not requested (e.g. if the applicant or respondent is a local authority) |
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5) 'Total number of cases started' and 'Cases with at least one hearing' are included only for additional context and will include hearings with represented parties. 6) The central data system FamilyMan was fully rolled out by the end of 2010 and so any data prior to this in FamilyMan is not complete and not shown in this table |
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6) The central data system FamilyMan was fully rolled out by the end of 2010 and so any data prior to this in FamilyMan is not complete and not shown in this table