We call on the UK Government and the Ministry of Justice to immediately pause the national rollout of the Pathfinder / Child Focused Court model pending a full independent public inquiry.

 

The Assessing Risk of Harm to Children and Parents in Private Law Children’s Cases identified serious and systemic failings within the family justice system, including:

 

- A pro-contact culture that prioritises ongoing parental contact even where there are allegations of domestic abuse;

 

- Minimisation and disbelief of abuse, particularly where it is non-physical or involves coercive and controlling behaviour;

 

- Failure to apply trauma-informed understanding to adult and child behaviour;

 

- Inconsistent and fragmented information-sharing between agencies;

 

- Children’s voices not being meaningfully heard or reflected in decisions.

 

-Cafcass and Social Services using a assumption based practice to remove children from safe parents 

 

- Abuse of power within the Family Courts, cases that do not reflect laws and policies already inplace

 

- Investigation into the integrity of judicial decision-making, including whether final orders are being drafted in advance of hearings and the degree to which recommendations from CAFCASS or other professionals are reproduced without transparent judicial analysis.

 

Subsequent government commitments to address these failings have not been fully implemented, and families continue to report the same patterns of harm.

 

At the same time, the Pathfinder model increases the early and influential role of CAFCASS and local authority professionals in shaping case direction and outcomes.

 

If these underlying structural issues remain unresolved, expanding this model risks embedding and amplifying the very failings identified by the Harm Panel.

 

In particular, there is ongoing concern that:

 

- Trauma responses in victims of abuse are still misinterpreted as hostility or non-compliance;

 

- Protective parents may be reframed as obstructive within a pro-contact framework;

 

- Professional opinion can carry significant weight without sufficient evidential scrutiny or independent challenge.

 

- Status quo of child residence being formed due to procedural delay and do not reflect the child’s live experience and established home environment, routine or primary attachment 

 

Women represent the majority of victims of domestic abuse in England and Wales, meaning these systemic issues disproportionately impact mothers and the children in their care.

 

A system that does not reliably recognise abuse cannot safely promote contact.

 

We do not oppose reform. We oppose unsafe reform.

 

We therefore call for:

 

- An immediate pause on the national rollout of the Pathfinder / Child Focused Court model;

 

- A full, independent public inquiry into the practices of CAFCASS and local authority children’s services, including their influence on court decisions;

 

- Mandatory trauma-informed and abuse-aware training across all professionals involved in family court proceedings;

 

- Reform of how professional reports are written, language used, evidenced, and challenged, ensuring accuracy, neutrality, and accountability;

 

- A review of the current reliance on professional hierarchy in decision-making, including consideration of alternative models with stronger judicial scrutiny and independent oversight;

 

- A unified safeguarding information system to ensure all relevant evidence is available before decisions are made;

 

- Clear accountability mechanisms for professionals and decision-makers, including independent oversight of family court processes.

 

- Introduction of a jury into hearings, a panal of independent experts and citizens. Including coercive control experts and child behaviour experts.

 

- Introduction of a new role in Family Courts that provides independent review of Judicial Conduct, reports and decisions, ensuring fast complaint procedures and appeals. 

 

- Legal Aid applicants to access a choice of Barrister for improved participant / professional suiting

 

- Transcripts provided free of charge to all parties of each hearing, independently produced from the court.  

 

-Litigant in Persons to receive all case notes and bundles equally to professionals and involved in all discussions and meetings. 

 

 

Children’s safety must come before professional opinion, procedural efficiency, or assumptions about contact.

 

Children’s lives must not be used as the testing ground for a system that has not yet proven itself safe. The harm already caused has to be addressed. 

 

Close the Gap Family Courts UK