Sir James Munby says he welcomes Guardian’s spotlight on issue and will prioritise reform early in new year
The senior judge who oversees family courts in England and Wales has said he would support “as a matter of priority” a ban on perpetrators of domestic abuse cross-examining their victims.
Sir James Munby responded after a Guardian investigation last week revealed that women were being forced to face questioning in the family courts by men who had abused them. The practice has been banned in criminal courts but continues in the family division.
On Friday a spokesman for the president of the family division of the high court said Munby “would welcome a bar” on the practice but that it was down to primary legislation in parliament to do this.
“The president of the family division has been raising since 2014 the pressing need to reform the way in which vulnerable people give evidence in family proceedings,” the spokesman said. [Read Full Article]
