The House of Lords has been considering amendments to the Victims and Prisoners Bill, many of which would, if approved, affect family proceedings once the legislation is introduced.
The committee stage, which involves line by line examination of the bill, began on 24 January 2024 and will continue on 13 February.
An article by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism summarises several proposed amendments, including:
a ban on unregulated psychologists giving assessments of domestic abuse victims,
a veto on certain allegations of ‘parental alienation’,
an extension of ‘Jade’s Law’ – by which someone who kills the other parent of their child must have their parental responsibility removed –to perpetrators of sexual abuse against a child in their family.
a ban on people accused of domestic abuse from accessing survivors’ medical records, and
a ban on those on bail or awaiting trial for domestic abuse, child abuse or a sexual offence from having unsupervised contact with their children See the link below for more information.
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