Who is The Family Court #Watchdog?
The Family Court #Watchdog is a private service, independent of HMCTS, the Ministry of Justice, the judiciary and Government. Our concern is for the real-life experiences, challenges and upsets that customers have faced dealing with the admin offices of all Family Courts, and Family Magistrates Courts in England & Wales. It is in the public interest for HMCTS to be obliged to deliver excellent customer service to all of their customers, especially litigants in person. HMCTS should also be able to measure and report on customer satisfaction, at the point of delivery.
Background
HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is responsible for the administration of criminal, civil and family courts and tribunals in England and Wales.
However, without efficient admin processes and procedures in place, and a well-trained, well-staffed, and well-managed admin service, customers will inevitably be disappointed, frustrated and disadvantaged by the overall system.
Although some effective *reforms have been made, through collaboration with the senior judiciary and the Ministry of Justice, the £1bn investment for stepped reform since 2016, has not gone far enough. Whilst there are now more bodies offering free legal advice and help, far more reform by the administration is still required, if all paying and non-paying customers are going to receive the excellent standard of service that they are entitled to, from all Family Courts admin offices. That being said, the recent conversion to remote hearings by phone and video, and ‘hybrid’ hearings, is a revolutionary, case management advance, which should be permanently incorporated into the family justice system.
The backlog that family court admin offices are dealing with now, are not the result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unacceptable admin and processing delays and inefficiencies have existed for years, made more excusable by the pandemic. If the relevant digital systems reforms had already been made, customers would not be suffering from all of the daily fall out.
Complaints about HMCTS Family Courts admin offices -
Digital access to justice:
Despite HMCTS’ investment programme of £1bn since 2016, the focus on the ‘customer’, is still heavily biased in favour of treating the 'legal professionals' as the priority ‘customer’, rather than the litigant in person. Digital system advances appear to be mainly targeted at helping Solicitors and Barristers, rather than being litigant in person-centred, especially in divorce, financial remedy and private law Children Act matters.
The irony is, for litigants in person and McKenzie Friends not to have exactly the same access to, and use of, the full range of digital products, services and systems, available to ‘legal professionals’, marginalises the majority of family court ‘customers’.
For example, not being allowed to directly email a judge who has been dealing with your case, or download court order document templates, and not having access to digitally enhanced admin systems between the court and the ‘customer’, slows down the litigant. As it stands, the digital reforms aren’t all available for the litigant in person, so is an impediment to a litigant’s ‘digital’ access to justice.
Family Court Customer Complaints system
HMCTS ‘complaints’ procedure really is not customer-centred. It doesn’t tell the customer who deals with complaints and how complaints are dealt with, in house. It lacks independence and transparency, lacks published quality assurance controls, has no published policy on refunds and compensation, and therefore appears to be ambivalent towards the customer.
Not one online family court web page has its own published Complaints Department email address for their own admin office, or any sections in that admin office!
If you become a #Watchdog member and take an active part, then you have a reasonable prospect of obtaining **compensation or a refund, if there is evidence that the quality and standard of service you received from a family court admin office, fell below an acceptable standard.
In due course our results will be published.