Author : Great Britain. National Audit Office
Publisher : Stationery Office Books (TSO)
ISBN 13 : 9780102944525
Total Pages : 30 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (445 download)
Book Synopsis Legal Aid and Mediation for People Involved in Family Breakdown by : Great Britain. National Audit Office
Download or read book Legal Aid and Mediation for People Involved in Family Breakdown written by Great Britain. National Audit Office and published by Stationery Office Books (TSO). This book was released on 2007-01-01 with total page 30 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Family disputes that are resolved through mediation are cheaper, quicker and, according to academic research, less acrimonious than those that are settled through the courts. Despite these advantages, only some 20 per cent of people who are funded by legal aid for family breakdown cases (excluding those involving domestic violence) currently opt for mediation. This report examines the reasons for the low take-up and makes recommendations to the Legal Services Commission, which administers legal aid in England and Wales, to help increase the number of mediations. Although solicitors and legal advisers have a duty to advise their clients of the option of mediation, the survey found that a third of clients had not been made aware by their adviser that mediation was an option. Recommendations include that the Legal Services Commission needs to publicise the advantages of mediation and remove the financial disincentives to solicitors of recommending this option to their clients; and that those solicitors who have significantly lower numbers of cases which go to mediation should be investigated to find the reasons for the low take up and, where these reasons prove unsatisfactory, should have their contracts curtailed. The provision of mediation services also needs to be extended in areas of the country that are not well covered, either by supporting extension of the existing provision of outreach services or by providing reasonable travel expenses to those living in areas with less access to a mediator.