The President’s Address at the Annual Dinner of the Family Law Bar Association

Speech by Sir James Munby, President of the Family Division, at the Annual Dinner of the Family Law Bar Association on Friday 27 February 2015 at the Middle Temple.

Madam Chairman, Mr Vice Chairman, officers and members of the Association, former Presidents of the Division, distinguished guests, fellow family practitioners –

Much has happened since the last occasion when you were kind enough to ask me to speak at this splendid event. You hardly need reminding that April last year saw the implementation of family justice reforms which are already so deeply embedded that we take them almost for granted. Care cases have been transformed – and their average length continues to fall. We are making great progress in the equally necessary transformation of private law cases. We have new family courts in West and East London, created from scratch in remarkably short time under the inspirational leadership of Judy Rowe and Carol Atkinson. The Central Family Court has been, at least in parts, refurbished, and continues to improve under John Altman’s determined leadership. Elsewhere, dedicated judges under the devoted leadership of our Designated Family Judges, make the most of what is possible in often inadequate and dilapidated buildings.

There remains, inevitably, much to do, but family court users are already experiencing the benefits of what we have been doing. It is a great achievement but – and this is the key point – an achievement in which we have ALL played a part and in which we can ALL take pride. I would have been able to accomplish nothing without the support and commitment of the family bar, of family solicitors, of family judges and of everyone else who has a role to play in the family justice system. Thank you! Thank you!

Your dedicated support, matched of course, by your fierce commitment to your clients, typically some of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable members of an often uncaring society, which neither understands nor wants to understand what we do, is remarkable. You are truly the largely unsung heroes; in particular, those of you who work tirelessly and pro bono for the parents who would otherwise be unrepresented. You have my admiration and gratitude. And all this at a time when, of course, all parts of the family legal profession are subject to acute financial pressures.

So what of the year ahead? Our primary task is retrenchment and consolidation – making sure that all the reforms are properly embedded, that all the good work continues, that there is no backsliding.

But although the pace of reform, you may be relieved to hear, has slowed, there are important changes in view. Can I focus on just two?

The first relates to our entire approach in the family justice system to involving children in the process – both in the individual cases that affect them but also more widely in the family justice system. Given their centrality to almost everything we do, given that their welfare is, after all, our paramount concern, it is striking how comparatively invisible children are in the family justice system. They are very much more visible in the criminal justice system, including in the adult criminal justice system. We need, in particular, to re-examine our approach to the related but distinct issues of children giving evidence and children meeting and talking to the judge.

Related to this, there is the wider issue of how we treat the vulnerable, whether they come before us as parties or as witnesses. Vulnerability comes in many forms. In our understanding of these issues, and in the practices and procedures which are in place to enable the vulnerable to participate fully and fairly in our courts, the family justice system lags woefully, indeed, shamefully, behind the criminal justice system.

The working party I appointed under the leadership of Hayden and Russell JJ to examine all these issues, has published its interim report. The final report is due any day now. There is much to be done, not least by the Family Justice Council and the Family Procedure Rules Committee. But, most important of all, both the judges and the advocates will need training, like the training which has for some time been familiar in the criminal justice system. A working group led by Newton J is hard at work. There is much for the Bar to do: it is, if you will allow me to say so, one of the most pressing and immediate tasks facing the FLBA. I am sure you will all rise to the challenge.

The other great change in prospect – and this may come to be seen in retrospect as even more revolutionary than all the changes we experienced last year – is the reform of the court process to bring it into the modern electronic world. This is long overdue, but there is reason to believe that we stand on the brink of changes that would have seemed impossible, impossibly visionary, only a few years ago.

Making proper use of modern electronic methods means more – much more – than merely substituting the word processor for the typewriter or the quill pen. In terms of our processes, the advances of modern technology will involve at least five changes.