Family Solicitors Ipswich – Ministry of Justice survey reveals public attitudes to the family court system

‘The Ministry of Justice has recently published the results of a survey examining the public’s attitude towards the family court system and the results make for interesting reading. 48% of those surveyed said they were confident or fairly confident that family courts took into account the views of both parents in cases involving who a child should live with following a relationship breakdown. However, nearly a quarter of people (23%) were not confident that the court did so. In relation to children matters, when asked whether the family courts make decisions that are in the best interests of children, 54% of people were either very confident or fairly confident that the courts did do this, but around a fifth of people (21%) did not believe they did so.

When asked about court fees 83% of people agreed that those who wish to get divorced should pay a fee towards the costs of the court service if they could afford to, 52% believe that people who earned less than £15,000 a year should not pay a court fee, and around a fifth of people (22%) believe the courts should be free to all at the point of use and fully-funded by the taxpayer.

What is clear from these results is not enough people have confidence in our court system, which is one of the many reasons why we advise clients that any kind of court action should be considered as a last resort. ‘

The full report and statistics can be found at the Ministry of Justice website.

Amanda Crowe is a family law solicitor at Barker Gotelee, Ipswich Solicitors.

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