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Press Release

Law Society welcomes government commitment to speed up care proceedings

6 February 2012

The Law Society has welcomed the Government's announcement today of its commitment to speed up care and supervision proceedings, but warned that this would not be achieved simply by introducing new deadlines.

Law Society Chief Executive Desmond Hudson said:

'We agree with the Government that reducing delays in care proceedings is crucial, and welcome its commitment to provide the necessary legislative impetus for change.

"This should not come at the expense of the welfare of the children who are caught-up in the court system. To effectively halve the time which cases take now will require additional resources – but court facilities are being closed and the number of solicitors available to help families is likely to reduce in the wake of legal aid cuts.

"For a statutory six month time limit to be realistic, other measures will have to be put in place including:

More efficient use of experts

More specialist family judges, to provide judicial continuity

More time for guardians to spend in ascertaining and representing the child's views

A different attitude and approach to the conduct of child care proceedings"



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