Family Law

In Autumn 2018, The President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane established a working group to identify the scale of the problem of medical expert witness shortages in the family courts, to look at the causes and to identify possible solutions. Mr Justice Williams was appointed to Chair the group with representation from the judiciary, legal profession, Royal Medical Colleges and other interested bodies: The working group have produced a report using information gathered from surveys of the legal and medical fields and a symposium held in London in July.

The report can be read here.

The report confirms the nature and extent of the shortages of medical and other health professional is experts, identifies a wide range of causes and proposes solutions. The next stage is to consult upon those proposed solutions to assess their viability and how best they might be implemented.

The consultation closes on the 31st January 2020, and all responses should be directed to wgmedical@ejudiciary.net