We’re three days away from a general election that is reportedly going to hand Labour a record majority. However, if previous elections are anything to go by, we’re not completely convinced by the polls! Our Office Manager, Clare, has studied each of the manifesto’s put forward by the three major parties to see what they are proposing with regards to the UK’s justice system, and family law in particular.
What are the Conservative Party proposing with regards to Family Law?
The Conservative pledges on justice are focused primarily around commitments to building new prisons, enforcing tougher sentences and recruiting more police officers. There is an acknowledgement of the extensive court backlogs, and a suggestion to continue to digitize court processes & extend the amount of hearings that are taking place remotely. The Conservatives are also promising to continue to issue mediation vouchers, to reduce pressure on the courts. The manifesto makes one reference to Legal Aid, by promising that it will be provided at inquests to support survivors of major incidents. Whilst this is a welcomed suggestion, it doesn’t do much to reduce pressures on the criminal and civil legal aid systems, or make justice any more accessible to the average individual in a family law matter.
What are Labour proposing with regards to Family Law?
Labour also take a similar stance to the Conservatives in their justice pledges – mostly focusing on tackling crime and improving policing. Perhaps this is to be expected, given Sir Keir Starmer’s role within the Criminal Prosecution Service.
Like the Conservatives, Labour are providing solutions for tackling the court backlogs, by pledging legal aid for victims of disasters and ensuring that there are more prosecutors available. They go one step further by promising to ensure that every police force has a legal advocate on hand to advise victims of violence against women and girls. Additionally, they are promising to introduce domestic abuse experts in 999 control rooms so that victims can access specialist support straight away, as well as strengthening rights and protections for women in co-habiting couples. All of these changes will make a significant difference, to women in particular, and we look forward to seeing more details of what these pledges look like in practice if Labour were to win.
What are the Liberal Democrats proposing with regards to Family Law?
The Lib Dems policies on justice refer primarily to protecting existing legislation. They want to reinforce the UK’s commitment to the ECHR (European Court of Human Rights) and resist attempts to withdraw from it. They also want to add Caring to the list of protected characteristics as listed in the Equality Act, and scrap the recent Conservative legislation on migration, instead providing legal routes to sanctuary for refugees. There is little offered that relates to family law matters in particular, but they do make multiple pledges to further protect victims of domestic abuse, by expanding the number and of refuges and rape crisis centers to meet increasing demand. Additionally, they are proposing ‘sustainable funding’ for services to support survivors of domestic abuse as well as ‘proper support’ for victims within the criminal justice system.
The only mention of expansion of legal aid funding comes from the Liberal Democrats, but it is noticeably light on detail. They are pledging to make the system ‘simpler, fairer and more generous,’ as well as establish a right to affordable legal assistance. This is a well overdue change, and it is an enormous shame that it is not higher on the agenda of the other two major parties.
Final thoughts:
We are pleased to see pledges that support survivors of domestic abuse – there is definitely a need for further training within existing provisions, as well as an expansion of services. It would be hugely beneficial for victims of domestic abuse to be able to access a legal advocate to provide them with legal advice, and so we are hopeful that this policy will be carried through to fruition, should either Labour or the Liberal Democrats be successful on Thursday.
We remain disappointed that there hasn’t yet been a greater commitment to Legal Aid funding, from any of the major parties, and would hope to see legislation change on this over the course of the next parliament.
