Kim Beatson, chair of Resolution, said group meetings could easily be disrupted by people unable to adopt a problem-solving approach.
She also said there was anecdotal evidence that some solicitors were avoiding the pilot courts because they feared that the need for both parties to attend group information sessions would "add to the delay in what is already a painfully slow process". But she said it was too early to "denounce the pilot project as a failure".
She was speaking after children's minister Margaret Hodge revealed that only 50 parents, or 25 cases, had been referred to the scheme since its launch last September. Just six of the cases had made it to the final stage of parent planning sessions with staff from the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service.
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