In 2019, Sir Andrew McFarlane, president of the family division, said that the family courts are having to “run up a down escalator” as he described the increasing pressure on the system. More than three years on, not only has there been no improvement, but the situation has deteriorated significantly.
New statistics published by HM Courts & Tribunal Service (HMCTS) show there is currently a backlog of over 110,000 open cases within the family courts. In July to September 2022, it took on average 43 weeks for private law cases to reach a final order. This is up five weeks from the same period in 2021, and up 15 weeks from pre-pandemic levels. In the same period, public law cases (which should not exceed 26 weeks unless absolutely necessary) took on average 45 weeks to reach a final order. As Lubna Shuja, president of the Law Society, has noted: “The ones who are impacted by this delay the most are families up and down the country. Some are dealing with deeply distressing issues – securing a child arrangement order, seeking protection from domestic abuse and controlling behaviour, or finalising a divorce.”
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