From April of this year, a shake-up in the divorce system will mean that warring couples will be forced to deal with their problems through mediation before resorting to the courts.
Couples who wish to get divorced and don't qualify for legal aid will have to attend a compulsory mediation session (at up to £140 a pop) to resolve who gets to keep the house or the hamster. The move was announced by Justice Minister, former SJ Berwin partner and employer of private dicks Jonathan Djanogly. He believes that people are too willing to hand their problems over to the state and trumpets mediation as "a quicker, cheaper and more amicable alternative".
And the government certainly will be hoping that it's cheaper - for the state as well. The shake-up is part of the wider Justice Department cuts, including government plans to scrap legal aid for relationship disputes. And whilst domestic violence and abuse cases will bypass mediation, it's hoped that these new measures will reduce the current pressure on the court system.
But there's criticism that the mediation push is just a way to deflect attention from the swingeing cuts. According to the Law Society "the government is creating a myth that mediation is a panacea to justify cuts to legal aid." And family lawyers have been less than supportive too, stating any decent lawyer would suggest mediation as a first step anyway and that to paint the majority of claims before the court as trivial ignores the complexities of many divorces.
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Couples who wish to get divorced and don't qualify for legal aid will have to attend a compulsory mediation session (at up to £140 a pop) to resolve who gets to keep the house or the hamster. The move was announced by Justice Minister, former SJ Berwin partner and employer of private dicks Jonathan Djanogly. He believes that people are too willing to hand their problems over to the state and trumpets mediation as "a quicker, cheaper and more amicable alternative".
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The conclusion of another successful mediation, yesterday |
And the government certainly will be hoping that it's cheaper - for the state as well. The shake-up is part of the wider Justice Department cuts, including government plans to scrap legal aid for relationship disputes. And whilst domestic violence and abuse cases will bypass mediation, it's hoped that these new measures will reduce the current pressure on the court system.
But there's criticism that the mediation push is just a way to deflect attention from the swingeing cuts. According to the Law Society "the government is creating a myth that mediation is a panacea to justify cuts to legal aid." And family lawyers have been less than supportive too, stating any decent lawyer would suggest mediation as a first step anyway and that to paint the majority of claims before the court as trivial ignores the complexities of many divorces.