Speech

Speech at the Family Justice Council Launch

Chairman of the Family Justice Council and President of the Family Division, Dame Elizabeth Butler-Sloss DBE - 1st July 2004

The advent of the Family Justice Council is an achievement of the greatest importance and potential and I am extremely grateful to Lord Filkin and his Government officials for their support and effort in ensuring the Council has finally come into place.
The FJC is equivalent to the Civil Justice Council, which has been in place for some time, but has different functions and responsibilities.
The success of the Children Act 1989 led to the creation at each care centre of both a business committee and a service committee, with the National Children Act Advisory Committee at the very hub. The Advisory Committee was very successfully chaired by Booth J and then by Bracewell J and brought together all disciplines, providing a very valuable service.
Following the demise of NAAC in 1997, which was regretted by all those in family law at the time, there was an enormous gap in the co-ordination of the family disciplines and the opportunity to interchange ideas, in being able to receive views across the disciplines, collate and distil them and to advise Government on family policy.
My predecessor, Sir Stephen Brown, set up a number of Committees under the President's Chairmanship; Interdisciplinary Committee, International, Committee, Ancillary Relief Advisory Group, Adoption Committee. I would like to express my gratitude to Mathew Thorpe and those who have successfully participated in the many developments in family law that have been carried forward under the leadership of these Committees. This has not been an easy task due to the lack of co-ordinating group for the committees to feed into.
The new Family Justice Council will more than fill this gap, with members representing every interested group.
The absolute priority for the FJC in the forthcoming year, is the communication and close relationship with the local interdisciplinary groups, which is of particular importance during the transitional year of Unified Administration. The FJC and UA will bring together the High Court, County Court and Magistrates Family Proceedings Court as a unified family system.
One of our tasks will be to identify and encourage best practice across inter-agency working.
These and other aims will be informed and greatly assisted by the fact that the FJC is not a judicial body, but an interdisciplinary body with judicial members.
I am extremely proud to lead the new Council and to take part in this launch and am looking forward to working with all those who will be involved in the Council. We have a very demanding, but exciting period ahead!