Family Courts

Part of 2. Questions to the Counsel General and Brexit Minister (in respect of his 'law officer' responsibilities) – in the Senedd at 2:42 pm on 21 May 2019.

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Photo of Jeremy Miles Jeremy Miles Labour 2:42, 21 May 2019

Well, can I thank the Member for that important supplementary question? This is a really vital matter and I'm pleased the UK Government has committed to launching a review of how children are dealt with in the family courts. I think that's intended to be a review that lasts for three or four months and the call for evidence is, I think, imminent in relation to that. I have had a preliminary conversation with the Deputy Minister about how best we can engage with that review and will follow that up with a more substantive discussion in the coming days.

She will know, of course, that section 1 of Children Act 1989 includes a requirement that the child's welfare is the court's paramount concern and that decisions made by the court should have regard to human rights legislation. One of the critical aspects I believe the review may wish to address is the question of family procedure rules in court and how they work and how they can be strengthened to better protect children from the sorts of decisions that her constituent appears to have had first-hand experience of, unfortunately.

A representative appointed by the director of CAFCASS Cymru sits on the Family Procedure Rule Committee, which is responsible for developing and devising those rules of practice and procedure, but, as I say, I will be taking forward those discussions with the Deputy Minister to make sure that we can best feed into that review and reflect the concerns that we have in this Chamber, which are well-established, given our focus here in Government and in the Assembly on upholding the rights of children in all respects.