Research handbook on family justice systems

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Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The key questions are: do family courts provide dispute resolution or problem solving? Where are the boundaries between family justice systems, welfare or administrative bodies and the state? How has the court’s role been developing and working with alternative dispute resolution? When does the state intervene in family matters? How does a family justice system work with other regulations and communities with different beliefs about family life? How does it work with changing cultural norms? How does it response to emerging issues that affect individuals’ experience of family life? (Maclean, M and Treloar, R. eds. (2023) Research Handbook on Family Justice Systems, Research Handbooks on Law and Society. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, p xi-xii).

2. See chapters 1, 5, 6, 9, 11, 13, 15, 18, 19, 21,22 and 23.

3. See chapters 2, 3, 8, 10, 16, 18 and 20.

4. See Chapters 3, 4, 7, 12, 14, 17, 24 and 25.

5. See Chapters 2-Denmark, 4-Poland, 5 and 8-Netherlands 6-France, 11 Ireland, 14 Turkey, 15- Italy, 20-Switzerland and 23-Germany.

6. See Chapters 1-Australia, 3-Canada, 10, 24 and 25-England and Wales, 11-Ireland, 12 and 17-New Zealand and 21 and 22-US.

7. See Chapters 7-Argentina, 9-Japan, 13-Israel, 14-Turkey, 16-Southern African development community countries, and 18-China.

8. Two chapters appear in twice in the lists of jurisdictions: chapter 11 because Ireland is a European and an English-speaking jurisdiction; and chapter 14 because Turkey has regions in Europe and Asia, and so is in both the European and other parts of the world lists.

9. The 6 sections are 1. Family courts: roles and boundaries, Chapters 1–5; 2. New ways of working, Chapters 6–9; 3. Public and private family justice, Chapters 10–13; 4. The impact of systems of belief on family justice, Chapters 14–18; 5. Issues emerging, Chapters 19–22; and 6. Progress? Chapters 23–25.

10. See Footnote 1 for the key questions.

11. The authors note that at the time of publication an evaluation was underway, but findings are yet to be published. Further operational details are available at: Lighthouse information sheet for practitioners | Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (fcfcoa.gov.au).

12. The Domestic Abuse Commissioner is monitoring the pilots progress, but no reports have been published yet. The pilots follow protocol set out in Practice Direction 36Z of the Family Procedural Rules available at: NEW PRACTICE DIRECTION 36Z – PILOT SCHEME: PRIVATE LAW REFORM: INVESTIGATIVE APPROACH (justice.gov.uk).