\n<\/p>\n
Thousands of children in England and Wales could be protected from witnessing their parents pitted against each other in the courts under proposals to legally enforce mediation for separating families.<\/p>\n
Mediation would become mandatory in all suitable low-level family court cases excluding those which include allegations or a history of domestic violence under the proposals, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has said.<\/p>\n
This will mean separating couples have to attempt to agree their child custody and financial arrangements through a qualified mediator, with court action being a last resort.<\/p>\n
It is hoped the move would help up to 19,000 separating families resolve their issues away from the courtroom, while also reducing backlogs and easing pressures on the family courts.<\/p>\n
The proposals will be subject to a government consultation, which will run for 12 weeks, closing on 15 June.<\/p>\n
The justice secretary, Dominic Raab<\/a>, said: \u201cWhen parents drag out their separation through lengthy and combative courtroom battles it impacts on their children\u2019s school work, mental health and quality of life.<\/p>\n \u201cOur plans will divert thousands of time-consuming family disputes away from the courts \u2013 to protect children and ensure the most urgent cases involving domestic abuse survivors are heard by a court as quickly as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n The government\u2019s family mediation voucher scheme would be extended until April 2025 with an additional \u00a315m in funding, the MoJ said. The scheme provides separating couples with vouchers worth up to \u00a3500 to help them solve disputes through mediation and has so far supported more than 15,300 families.<\/p>\n The proposals include introducing a new power for judges to order parents to make a reasonable attempt to go to mediation, with possible financial penalties if they act unreasonably and harm a child\u2019s wellbeing by prolonging court proceedings.<\/p>\n Mediation is a process in which couples work through their differences with a trained and accredited mediator to reach agreements such as how to split assets or arrange child contact times, rather than have a judge decide for them.<\/p>\n An analysis of the first 7,200 users of the mediation scheme shows 69% of participants have reached whole or partial agreements away from court.<\/p>\n