Invitation To A Consultation Event Regarding The Enforcement Of Family Financial Orders
What is this about?
The Law Commission has recently published a consultation paper on the enforcement of family financial orders (by which we mean financial orders made under the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973, the Civil Partnership Act 2004, and Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989).
The project was recommended to the Law Commission in 2010 by the Family Law Bar Association. The Association described the law in this area as “hopelessly complex and procedurally tortuous” and argued that the current system is ineffective.
The consultation is seeking views on potential reforms – how to make the system more effective, more efficient and fair. In this context ‘fair’ means not punishing the debtor who cannot pay but giving the best chance to the creditor of recovering what is owed from a debtor who can pay but is choosing not to.
The consultation paper considers:
- New ways to obtain information about the debtor
- Improving existing methods of enforcement
- Introducing new methods of enforcement
- The need for better information about the system
- The role of case management and alternative dispute resolution
The consultation takes place against the backdrop of the introduction of the single family court and the changes to legal aid, which has inevitably left more litigants navigating the enforcement system without any representation.
Enforcement is an often overlooked area. There has been very little academic interest in the topic and for some family practitioners it is work that they seldom undertake. Nonetheless, it is an important area and one which is, arguably, in need of reform.
Your invitation
You are invited to a Law Commission public consultation event, hosted by the Family Team at Thirty Park Place Chambers. The event will be on 13th May 2015 at Park Plaza Hotel, Cardiff at 5:00pm for 5.30pm. Light refreshments will be available on arrival. The event will last for one and a half hours and will carry 1.5 CPD points. CPD reference 999. There is no charge for this event.
Professor Elizabeth Cooke, the Family, Property and Trust Law Commissioner will give a presentation, following which there will be the opportunity for attendees to contribute their own experiences and views of the provisional proposals made in the consultation paper.
The Law Commission also hopes to encourage written feedback to the questions posed in the consultation paper which is available on the Law Commission site.
If you wish to attend please contact Cassie Crocker at Thirty Park Place Chambers, 30 Park Place, Cardiff, CF10 3BS or email tocassie@30parkplace.co.uk, by no later than 6 May 2015.
