Fighting For Litigants' Rights
DETAILS ABOUT OUR LATEST PETITION ARE HALF WAY DOWN THIS PAGE AFTER THE INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION TO FIGHTING FOR LITIGANTS’ RIGHTS
Whether you are a litigant (a person involved in legal proceedings) or litigant in person (a person involved in legal proceedings and is not represented by a solicitor or barrister) in the family courts, you are not there as a criminal. You are there sorting out family matters. Often heart wrenching and distressing family matters.
During my sister’s 5 years attending the family courts I was horrified how medieval the British family courts were. I recall once mentioning how she felt to a court official only to be told that the British legal system was renowned worldwide and the same system adopted across the world. My thoughts were that the British empire forced the British legal system upon many parts of the world not because it was ‘perfect’ but because they could. Many countries inherited it or a similar system because they had no choice and for centuries nothing has changed.
Today’s British family courts are from a time when society was different. How family was seen then is not how it is seen now. Where divorce was frowned upon, even when there was abuse. People were expected to stay in unhappy marriages, homosexuality was illegal and there was no such thing as LGBTQ+ rights. A woman’s position in society was also different then – her access to jobs and careers made her reliant on the economic breadwinner of the family – her husband.
Shocking as it may seem – there was a time when a woman was not allowed to even have her own bank account unless she had the permission of a male member of the family. That changed in 1975.
Today in 2022, the British family courts are entrenched with outdated practices, stuffiness, and unwelcoming and uncaring attitudes all underlined by patriarchal, misogynistic, and racist views.
People’s roles in society have changed; and although society has moved on, the family courts have not. Today, the family court is not fit for purpose – to help families sort out their problems. And this has to change NOW.
My team at I AM L.I.P has spent the last year collating the views of hundreds of people (litigants) who have attended the family court. We asked them a question –
‘If you could improve this family court in 1 way, what would it be?’
The top answers are listed below –
1) Make food and drink available in the court – The number 1 complaint about the family court was the lack of availability of a meal or hot drink. At present family courts do not have canteens so litigants cannot buy food or a hot drink. If you have an all day hearing or are waiting around all day for your hearing to be heard then unless you have brought food for yourself, you will have to go without. Today in 2022 this is unacceptable and very uncaring towards the public to whom the courts are providing a service – and I repeat they are providing a service!
2) Constant training for judges and magistrates – The 2nd most common suggestion to improve the family courts was to strengthen the knowledge and understanding of judges and magistrates towards a wide range of family matters. Family court judges and magistrates must undergo continuous professional development by attending regular courses about domestic violence, post-separation abuse, cultural and socio-economic aspects of society that affect families to better their understanding.
3) Creche facilities – This was requested by many litigants who found juggling court dates with babysitters and school times very stressful especially single mothers with little or no family help. New mothers found the whole experience very distressing leaving their babies for hours so they could attend court.
4) Stop bundle abuse and corruption – A court bundle is a file full of all the paperwork including, statements, evidence, court forms and applications, and court orders involved in your court case. There are many times when a bundle is biased towards one party and does not give an accurate representation of the case. What is shocking is although many judges will be informed of this, they still allow the cases in front of them to continue. This is unacceptable.
Please comment on our social media and our forum if there are any suggestions YOU have that would improve your experience of the family court. Once we have your views we will start petitions and write to parliament asking for these changes
I AM L.I.P PETITION 1
We have started the following petition. Please click on the link below to access the petition.
REMOVE THE NEED FOR A PERMISSION LETTER FROM SPOUSE TO CHANGE SURNAME BACK TO MAIDEN NAME
LINK TO GOVERNMENT WEBSITE TO SIGN OUR PETITION.
Here at I AM L.I.P, we have started a petition about an issue concerning surname change. At present, if you want to change your married surname back to your maiden surname, you must do this after your divorce has been finalised and a final order has been issued by the court. A final order is a legal document stating your marriage has ended. Once you have a final order then along with your marriage certificate, you can change your surname back to your married name. You can send a copy of your marriage certificate and final order to your bank, place of work, passport office and other institutions and they will reverse the name.
But what if your divorce is dragging on and you want to change your surname on certain documents back to your maiden name? Without a final order, you can only change your surname back to your maiden name by deed poll.
What we here at I AM L.I.P have an issue with is that if you want to change your surname back to your maiden name by deed poll during your divorce – one of the requirements is that you will need a letter from your ex-partner/ex-spouse giving you permission/consent. Without this permission letter, you cannot change your surname back to your maiden name by deed poll.
Let us give you an example of how detrimental this can be and how once spouse can control another –
Mary was married to Jake for 6 years. Their divorce was taking a long time to complete because the financial settlement was not being finalised. Mary’s passport was under her married name because she renewed it just before her honeymoon and changed the name to her married name. However, Mary never got round to changing her maiden name to her married name on her GP records or her driving licence. In September 2020, she realised she couldn’t get a DBS certificate to enable her to work as an assistant teacher to support herself because her surname on her driving licence did not match the surname on her passport. She couldn’t work.
She wanted to change her surname on her passport back to her maiden name by deed poll so all her documents could be uniform. However, she needed a letter of permission/consent from Jake to do this.
Jake decided not to give it, leaving Mary without an income.
We at I AM L.I.P are asking the government to remove the need for this permission letter. It disproportionately affects women and it is outdated. Please click on the link below to sign our petition.