Full Description
This book is about those who represent themselves as Litigants in Person in the family justice system. It calls for a refocusing of the debate about the historical challenges associated with Litigants in Person as well as the role they should play within the family justice system in England and Wales.
Drawing together interviews with Litigants in Person and decades of research into self-representation from across multiple jurisdictions, this book provides an account of the family justice system through the eyes of its users. It employs an innovative socio-legal framework comprising feminist theory, a Bourdieusian theory of class, vulnerability theory, and actor-network theory to explore the journey that Litigants in Person take through the legal, cultural and social context of the family court.
It provides fresh insight into the diverse challenges that people face within this process and how these relate to wider pressures within the family justice system. It argues that there are important lessons to be learned from Litigants in Person. By understanding how and why people come to the point of self-representing, and the kinds of experiences they have when they do, the book advocates the importance of forging a more positive and effective relationship between Litigants in Person and the family justice system.
Contents
1. Introduction
I. Litigants in Person and the Family Justice System
II. The Family Justice Landscape
III. Where Next for Family Justice?
IV. Learning from LIPs
V. Chapter Outline
2. The Changing Landscape of Family Justice
I. Neoliberalism and the Family Justice System
II. Family Justice at Breaking Point?
III. Domestic Abuse and Family Justice
IV. COVID-19 and Family Justice
V. A Turning Point for Family Justice
3. Conceptualising Litigants in Person
I. Tensions in Family Justice Research
II. Marginalised Perspectives
III. Inequality, Disadvantage, and Difference
IV. The State and the Family Justice System
V. Material Manifestations of Disadvantage
VI. A Theoretical and Empirical Enquiry
4. Navigating the Family Justice System
I. Procedural Requirements
II. Legal Norms
III. Physical Environments, Social Hierarchies and Cultural Expectations
IV. The Full-Representation Model
5. Contributing to the Family Court Process
I. Speaking in Court
II. Using Paperwork to Communicate
III. Asking and Answering Questions
IV. Being Heard within the Family Court Process
V. Changing the Conversation
6. Finding a Role in the Family Justice System
I. Relationships with Judges
II. Relationships with Opposing Lawyers
III. Relationships with Other LIPs
IV. Finding a Role
7. Perceptions of Family Justice
I. The Expectation-Experience Disconnect
II. Understanding Decisions and Outcomes
III. A Cycle of Exclusion
IV. Family Justice Journeys
8. Conclusion
I. Litigants in Person and the Family Justice System
II. LASPO: The End of Family Justice?
III. How to Break a Cycle of Exclusion
