A government review of current divorce laws is to recommend compulsory mediation in a bid to cut down on the number of cases which are coming before the courts.
The number of divorce cases in the UK rose 16% last year with the average divorce case involving children taking more than a year to be completed. Now David Norgrove, who is leading the review, wants to reduce legal costs by up to £100m through increased mediation leading to fewer cases going to court while those that do have to end up before a judge becoming briefer and simpler.
Mr Norgrove said that nine out of every ten family divorce cases could be adequately dealt with out of court and said that evidence showed that if both parties in a case learn of mediation the majority will go on to use it. Sir Nicholas Wall, the most senior judge in England and Wales, has already said that the system should become less adversarial.
The review has said that as well as introducing mediation, couples could be told to take parenting classes and, with the courts to be used as a last resort, judges will be able to advise couples early in the proceedings to tell them what the likely outcome would be in a further bid to encourage them to settle.
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