Presentation on ‘the other 10%’ – private family law applications involving non-parents – at the Socio Legal Studies conference 27th March 2024
Presentation on ‘the other 10%’ – private family law applications involving non-parents – at the Socio Legal Studies conference Wednesday 27th March 2024
Dr Linda Cusworth is giving a paper entitled “The forgotten 10 percent? Private family law proceedings involving non-parents” at the Socio Legal Studies Conference in Portsmouth on 27th March.
Private law applications to the family court usually involve parents struggling to agree arrangements for children after separation. However, each year, around 10 per cent of applications in England and Wales feature one or more non-parents, such as grandparents and other family members, special guardians, foster carers and intended parents (in surrogacy cases). Drawing on recent research by the Family Justice Data Partnership [can you add in the URL to the project page] (a collaboration between Lancaster and Swansea Universities), this paper focuses on these ‘non-standard’ cases, painting a picture of overwhelming complexity and diversity in the range of people involved and orders applied for.
Analysis of anonymised, population-level administrative data collected by the Children and Family Court Advisory Service in England (Cafcass) and Wales (Cafcass Cymru), and available for research within the SAIL Databank, revealed that there are around 5,500 non-parent applications made in England and 300 in Wales each year. This represents around a third the number of public law care proceedings each year in England and Wales.
Many of the ‘non-standard’ cases had an element of overlap with public law, with the court being asked to make or confirm arrangements where children were being cared for away from their parents. We will discuss the circumstances of such cases, together with the implications for children and families. The current programme of private law reform concentrates almost exclusively on the experiences and needs of separating parents. This research highlights the need for future reforms to properly engage with the complexity and needs of those involved in cases outside of this.
For further details, contact Linda (l.cusworth@lancaster.ac.uk)