Guiding Principles for Family Justice Programs

• Date: 01 July 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12419
• Author: Peter Salem,Annette T. Burns
• Published date: 01 July 2019

GUIDING PRINCIPLES FOR FAMILY JUSTICE PROGRAMS

Peter Salem and Annette T. Burns

The Association of Family and Conciliation Courts and Relate, UK, co-convened a 24-hour consultation at St George’s

House, Windsor, UK, on modern family justice issues across Europe. This article identifies a preliminary set of guiding prin-

ciples for family justice programs developed by consultation participants.

Key Points for the Family Court Community:

Across jurisdictions, a wide range of innovative family justice initiatives have been implemented over the last three

decades.

Contemporary family justice programs often integrate multiple processes and are interdisciplinary in nature.

In spite of many differences, there are common principles that can serve to guide family justice programs.

Keywords: Accountability; Family Justice; Family Well-Being; Interdisciplinary; Public Health; Self-Determination; Voice

of the Child.

I. INTRODUCTION

Family justice systems worldwide have experienced significant change over the last several

decades to keep pace with society’s developments. Architects of family courts and related service

agencies have been compelled to respond to evolving definitions of family, new roles and responsi-

bilities related to parenting and the workplace, technological needs and advancements, and declin-

ing economic circumstances for family justice institutions and many of the individuals who use

them. This article draws on the discussions of an interdisciplinary gathering of 30 European family

justice experts

1

at St George’s House in Windsor, UK, that took place in February 2018. Over the

course of a 24-hour consultation, they shared an impressive range of innovative initiatives and ideas

that have been implemented throughout Europe and are highlighted by the Consultation Report

(Walker & Marjoribanks, 2018). According to Walker and Marjoribanks, “The key learning from

the Consultation was identified as being the similarity in respect of the challenges facing relation-

ship support and family justice providers across Europe. Nevertheless, ways of addressing the chal-

lenges vary considerably”(2018, p. 19). Indeed, although participants clearly saw the value in

adopting some of these innovative programs in their home jurisdictions, there was an acknowledg-

ment of the challenges in doing so due to, for instance, different cultures (related to various justice

systems, professional practices, and countries of residence), available resources, and local family

justice–related laws, rules, and policies. Thus, this article focuses on common themes identified

by consultation participants in the form of a broad set of principles that attempt to balance

the unique circumstances of each jurisdiction with a level of cohesion across them (see Walker &

Marjoribanks, 2018, p. 19).

Correspondence: psalem@afccnet.org; annette@btlawyers.com

FAMILY COURT REVIEW, Vol. 57 No. 3, July 2019 434–439

© 2019 Association of Family and Conciliation Courts