More than 100,000 children ‘trapped’ in family courts backlog

New figures published by the Ministry of Justice show that the family courts continue to face backlogs leaving more than 100,000 children, along with their families, at the ‘mercy of a broken justice system’ according to the Law Society.

Private children law cases – where families apply for arrangements relating to where their children live and who they have contact with – took an average of more than 11 months, which is at a standstill from 2022.

There were 18,758 individual children involved in new private law applications just between October and December 2023. Overall, there were 78,004 children involved in private family law cases throughout 2023.

Combining both public and private law cases involving children, a total of 103,676 children were trapped in the family courts backlogs over 2023. Read the full article below.

https://todaysfamilylawyer.co.uk/more-than-100000-children-trapped-in-family-courts-backlog/