Remote hearings in family courts in England and Wales during Covid‐19: Insights and lessons

• Published date: 01 April 2022
• Author: Lisa Harker,Mary Ryan
• Date: 01 April 2022
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12638

SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLE

Remote hearings in family courts in England and

Wales during Covid-19: Insights and lessons

Lisa Harker | Mary Ryan

Nuffield Family Justice Observatory,

London, UK

Correspondence

Lisa Harker, Nuffield Family Justice

Observatory, London, UK.

Email: contactfjo@nuffieldfoundation.org

Abstract

The introduction of social distancing measures during the

COVID-19 pandemic resulted in family court hearings in

England and Wales being conducted remotely, by video or

telephone. Over a 15 months period, the Nuffield Family

Justice Observatory undertook three rapid consultations to

identify how remote proceedings were working, according

to families and to a wide range of professionals who work

in and around the family court. The consultations revealed

the value of working remotely in certain circumstances, but

also highlighted significant questions of fairness and justice.

These insights should inform how courts operate in the

future.

KEYWORDS

COVID-19 pandemic, family courts, remote hearings

Key points for the family court community

•Prior to the pandemic,the debate about conducting family

law hearings by video or telephone were polarized into

whether they were “good”or “bad.”There is now a more

nuanced understanding of when it is and is not appropri-

ate for hearings totake place over the phone or via video.

•While there are somedefinite advantages to remote hear-

ings, there are also serious concerns about the fairness

and justice of somehearings being conducted remotely.

•Many of the difficulties that parents and relatives had

with being able to fully participate in remote court

DOI: 10.1111/fcre.12638

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and

reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2022 The Authors. Family Court Review published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Association of Family and Conciliation

Courts.

Family Court Rev. 2022;60:207–219. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fcre 207