This book is about the delivery of family justice in England and Wales, focusing on the work of the family judiciary in the lower courts. The policy context is moving so rapidly that the authors have gone beyond presenting their empirical findings to offer a broader consideration of the nature and role of the family justice system, as these are in danger of being lost amid present reform proposals. The first four chapters are historical and comparative, examining assumptions about family justice and offering a defence of the role of legal rights in family life, and the importance of good policy-making balancing outcome- and behaviour-focused approaches to family justice. Comparative examples from the US and Australia show how new approaches to family justice can be successfully deployed. The next three chapters are empirical, including a typology of the roles played and tasks addressed by the judges, overturning the commonly held assumption that the central judicial role is adjudication, emphasising the extent to which judges integrate outcome- and behaviour-focused approaches to family justice, and giving a detailed account of the daily work of circuit and district judges and legal advisers. The conclusion is that there is a trend across jurisdictions, driven by technological innovation and by economic constraints, to reduce the role of courts and lawyers in favour of individual choices based on private or government-funded information sources. While these developments can be beneficial, they also have dangers and limitations. The final chapter argues that despite the move to privatised forms of dispute resolution, family justice still demands a sound judicial structure.

1. The Family Justice System I Introduction II Assumptions and Misperceptions III What Is the Family Justice System? IV Family Matters and Legal Rights V An Historical Perspective 2. Family Justice: Outcome-focused and Behaviour-focused Approaches I Impartiality, Processes and Outcomes II A Third Approach: Abstention III Child-centred Cases IV The Intervention Options Reconsidered: the Nature of Relevant State Institutions V Organisation of What Follows 3. Lawyers and Mediators: Towards Greater Collaboration? I Family Law Practice II Development of Mediation III Criticisms of Mediation IV Problems with Research Evidence V Collaboration and Co-operation VI New Initiatives 4. Courts: Changing Structures and Functions I The Magistracy II The Ecclesiastical and Divorce Courts III The Demise of Reconciliation IV Therapeutic Courts V The Contemporary Structure and Functions of Family Courts VI Court Support Services VII The Recommendations of the Family Justice Review 5. Judging I The Framework of the Family Courts in England and Wales II The Empirical Evidence: Judges at Work 6. Family Courts in Action I Roles Played, the Nature of the Court and the Nature of the Matter II Time Spent According to Matters Dealt With III The Daily Work of Family Law Judges in the Lower Courts IV Reflections 7. Public Law Children Cases I The Development of Child Protection in England and Wales II The Children Act 1989 and its Aftermath III Attempts to Control the Management of Child Protection Cases in the Family Justice System IV Tensions and Contradictions in Child Protection Case Management V The Benefits of Reasoned Judgments VI Reflections 8. Private Law Disputes Involving Children I Children's Welfare and Justice to Parents II Custody Dispositions by Courts prior to the Children Act 1989 III The Children Act 1989 IV Contact between Parents and Children after Separation V Legislative Responses VI Justice and Decisions Involving Children 9. Late Modern Justice: Information, Advice and Privatisation I Background II Child Support: from Compulsion to Informed Support III Financial Matters: Towards Informed Settlement? IV Information, Advice and Justice V Information, Rules and Discretion VI Privatised Justice VII Final Reflections