§ Margaret MoranTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department if she will list legislation involving protection for survivors of domestic violence which has not been brought into force, stating the reasons in each case. [88311]
§ Ms Rosie WintertonSection 60 of Part IV of the Family Law Act 1996 has not been implemented. This section would give the Lord Chancellor the power to make rules to allow a prescribed person, or category of person, to act on behalf of survivors of domestic violence.
It was not implemented in 1997 with Part IV in order to give the courts, police, practitioners and others time to become familiar with the new law and gain experience in its operation before considering the introduction of new procedures and responsibilities of this nature.
The Lord Chancellor's Department commissioned research to assess the effectiveness of current remedies for domestic violence and understand the practical impact on individuals of third party applications. The research report has now been considered by our Domestic Violence Advisory Group, which includes representation from the police, voluntary sector, judiciary and others. The group concluded that the problems identified in the research would not be most effectively addressed by implementing section 60. A sub-group of the advisory group will now consider these problems and recommend how best to tackle them.