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Sir James Munby called for new ‘problem-solving’ courts to deal with children caught up in family and criminal courts.
Speaking at the Howard League for Penal Reform, the President of the Family Division said that the Family Court should be expanded to include the Youth Court, with an emphasis on problem-solving rather on the criminal law.
He urged the Crown Prosecution Service to reconsider its prosecuting policy for children, but said: ‘I do not go so far as to suggest that age alone should immunise children from the appropriate application of the criminal law where there has been really serious offending.’
However, in less serious cases, he said it is legitimate to ask what advantage there is in invoking a criminal process in preference to a family court process, especially where the family court is already engaged in careful analysis of and planning for the child’s future.
He said there was an ‘urgent need’ to simplify what had become an ‘immensely complicated landscape’.
Sir James also said there needed to be ‘a fundamental re-balancing of the family court towards what ought to be its true role as a problem-solving court, engaging the therapeutic and other support systems that so many children and parents need’.
He said that in these ‘uniquely complex cases’, courts must grapple with the underlying problems and difficulties of the whole family. ‘So what we need is a problem-solving court for the whole family. Can a criminal court, can the Youth Court, satisfactorily fulfil that role? Is it not, in truth, a role better suited to a re-vamped family court with an enhanced jurisdiction?’
Sir James Munby called for new ‘problem-solving’ courts to deal with children caught up in family and criminal courts.
Speaking at the Howard League for Penal Reform, the President of the Family Division said that the Family Court should be expanded to include the Youth Court, with an emphasis on problem-solving rather on the criminal law.
He urged the Crown Prosecution Service to reconsider its prosecuting policy for children, but said: ‘I do not go so far as to suggest that age alone should immunise children from the appropriate application of the criminal law where there has been really serious offending.’
However, in less serious cases, he said it is legitimate to ask what advantage there is in invoking a criminal process in preference to a family court process, especially where the family court is already engaged in careful analysis of and planning for the child’s future.
He said there was an ‘urgent need’ to simplify what had become an ‘immensely complicated landscape’.
Sir James also said there needed to be ‘a fundamental re-balancing of the family court towards what ought to be its true role as a problem-solving court, engaging the therapeutic and other support systems that so many children and parents need’.
He said that in these ‘uniquely complex cases’, courts must grapple with the underlying problems and difficulties of the whole family. ‘So what we need is a problem-solving court for the whole family. Can a criminal court, can the Youth Court, satisfactorily fulfil that role? Is it not, in truth, a role better suited to a re-vamped family court with an enhanced jurisdiction?’
Update from the Chair of the Bar
By David Green
Mário Barroso, Head of R&D and Method Development at AlphaBiolabs, examines the forensic science underpinning hair drug testing, its evidential scope and limitations, and why it remains the gold standard for evidencing patterns of drug use in family proceedings
Unlocking your aged debt to fund your tax in one easy step. By Philip N Bristow
Clement Cowley, Partner at The Penny Group, discusses the upcoming changes to pensions and Inheritance Tax and the potential impact on your financial future
Save the Children UK is the latest charity to benefit from a £500 donation from AlphaBiolabs via the company’s Giving Back initiative
The Chief Legal Officer to the Metropolitan Police, barrister Brett Welch, tells Anthony Inglese CB about his mission and the work to turn the Met around
Barrister apprenticeships – shortly to provide the fourth pathway to the Bar – are an ideal opportunity to support local talent and ‘grow your own’, say Tim Coulson and Dr Jane Dennehy
Grok around and find out – or not? Mariya Peykova investigates the nudification scandal, what the law has to say about sexually explicit deepfakes, and whether stronger regulation is needed
Oliver Lewis spotlights an overlooked yet rapidly evolving area of law – coercive and controlling behaviour within care contexts
For one night only at Middle Temple Hall (Sunday 26 July 2026) – Abigail Bright introduces the famed annual fundraising theatrical event. This year, Martin Shaw and Jason Watkins perform John Mortimer’s The Dock Brief, a mixture of farce and pathos and all in support of the work of the Kalisher Trust in its 30th year
