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35 J. Soc. Welfare & Fam. L. 1 (2013)

handle is hein.journals/jnlosclwl35 and id is 1 raw text is: Journal of Social Welfare & Family Law, 2013 Routiedge Vol. 35, No. 1, 1-2, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09649069.2013.774599 Editorial: Late modern justice for the family Mavis Maclean and Helen Stalford Just over a year ago the Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law published a special issue on Family Law in Hard Times (2011, 33(4)). This was devoted to identifying the problems associated with the government's plans to remove large areas of family law from the scope of legal aid. The policy paper announcing the changes1 adopted a rather surprising approach to family disputes, describing them as 'not of the highest importance' where they are thought to arise from the personal decisions of those concerned. While there is widespread support for the view that family disputes may be more comfortably and appropriately managed and resolved managed outside the legal system, and for the addition of the various forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) to the repertoire of helping services, nevertheless there is, and will be for the foreseeable future, a small group of people who are so troubled, vulnerable and/or conflicted that they need the help of the court to sort out and manage their dispute and offer some assurance that a fair arrangement will be enforced. This issue takes up the debate at the point where the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO) comes into force on 1 April 2013. This is happening at the same time as a number of welfare reforms come into force, which are likely to add to the pressures on family life by further reducing the public and private resources available to deal with them. The first part of this special issue looks in detail at the effects of LASPO on family and social welfare-related advice and support. We are grateful to Stephen Cobb (formerly Chairman of the Family Law Bar Association) for setting out the nature of many of the changes affecting family law with clarity and authority. We then turn to the question of how effective the changes will be achieving the Government's aim of reducing public expenditure, set out by Graham Cookson. This contribution, from the perspective and experience of an economist, will, we hope, focus more attention on the use which can be made of existing data while highlighting the acknowledged need for more. Chris Bevan's article develops a number of points raised by Stephen Cobb, by offering a practitioner's view of the potential impact of an increase in the number of self-represented parties on the work of the family courts. A further insightful practitioners' perspective is presented in Frances Meyler and Sarah Woodhouse's contribution, which highlights the 'double-jeopardy' experienced by families in the context of immigration proceedings. The effect of the cuts in this regard will be particularly profound for immigration advice providers and service users alike, insofar as they will tighten the noose around an already highly regulated, poorly funded and politically contentious area of social justice. These contributions are, in turn, complemented by Debra Morris and Warren Barr's reflections on the significant (and, as yet, under-acknowledged) impact of the legal aid cuts on charities, particularly those who fulfil a vital advice and advocacy role for the socially and economically marginalised. The second part of this issue explores other ways of delivering and receiving family and social welfare law advice in late modern society and how these might serve to limit © 2013 Taylor & Francis

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