Resolution introduces new Code

Resolution has launched a new Code of Practice for its members.

The organisation, which represents 6,500 family justice professionals who are committed to supporting couples to reach constructive solutions to family disputes, says it chose to revise the Code of Practice to reflect the changing family justice environment.

Nigel  Shepherd, Chair of Resolution, said:

'This is a further significant development in Resolution’s evolution.

When we first began in the 1980s, the world of family justice was very different. If you were getting divorced, you almost always ended up in court, and it was invariably acrimonious.

Resolution’s founder, John Cornwell, had the vision to recognise that there had to be a better way, and from those initial meetings that he had with a number of like-minded family lawyers our organisation – and subsequently our Code of Practice – was born.

Now the environment in which we all work is changing beyond recognition and our Code needed to be updated in order to reflect the way in which all our members support people.

I’m proud of the way our members have come together to draft and launch this new Code, which for the first time now also explains to the public how the Code helps them.'

Since its inception, Resolution has been at the forefront of promoting best practice, as well as launching and promoting new ways to support people through separation, including mediation, collaborative practice, and more recently, family arbitration.

It has also campaigned on issues such as legal aid – for family and care work – domestic violence, no fault divorce, rights for cohabitants and court closures.

Welcoming the new Code of Practice, Resolution members have today taken to social media with the hashtag #abetterway to share in their own words what being a Resolution member means to them.

Mr Shepherd added:

'The new Code is an important step forward for our organisation, and demonstrates our ongoing commitment to supporting our members, and the clients they help, to promote those values espoused by John Cornwell and others more than 30 years ago.

The Code also been written to reflect the changing face of our organisation. Although we started as a membership organisation primarily for family lawyers, we’re now proud to have family mediators, financial planners, counsellors and family therapists among our ranks.

If you subscribe to our principles and are passionate about the work Resolution does, you are welcome in our organisation.'

The new Code of Practice is being launched as part of Resolution’s Good Divorce Week, an annual awareness raising week to promote constructive resolutions to family issues. In addition to the launch of their new Code, Resolution is organising a major lobby of Parliament on Wednesday 30 November that will see 150 of its members meet with MPs in Westminster to promote their campaign for no fault divorce and rights for cohabiting couples.