Domestic Violence

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: "THE PROBLEM IS NOT GETTING ANY BETTER" SAYS ROGER BIRD – HE IS RIGHT – SO READ THE SEVENTH EDITION NOW

An appreciation by Elizabeth Robson Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers and Phillip Taylor MBE, Head of Chambers and Reviews Editor, "The Barrister"

For many practitioners in Family Law, the matter of domestic violence remains centre stage in 2018 without the reforms we urgently need to be applied to the issue instead of all the tinkering at the procedural edges.

We welcome the new seventh edition of "Domestic Violence: Law and Practice" by Roger Bird published by LexisNexis Family Law. The single most useful addition to this edition is where Bird has added most useful new information on Practice Direction 12J in the main work and in the Annex. At the very least it does help both the unrepresented party and the adviser keep up to date whilst we wait, and wait, for the promised reforms.

This seventh edition has been thoroughly revised with recent case-law authorities thus saving us a lot of time as practitioners looking up "Family Law" (another excellent LexisNexis service for us.

What we found most helpful for 2018 was the careful analysis of current procedural developments in a clear format for the uninitiated. Bird's purpose is to give us an up-to-date short account of the remedies available now, and what will be available soon.

The title is particularly aimed at the family law practitioner whether one is a lawyer, an advice worker or a public official. It will also be of great support to those at Citizens' Advice and to women's rights groups involved in personal protection, harassment and domestic abuse and we hope the book will be widely available in their offices and in public reference libraries.

Family practitioners owe a great debt of gratitude to the Family Law imprint of LexisNexis for taking over the original works from Jordans in Bristol who continue to provide us with much needed practical information at a time of much needed change.

It is sad to report that what Bird says remain true- the problem is not getting any better. "What is clear", he says, "is that while there is a continuing effort to deal with the scourge of domestic abuse, the fact that the source of the problem lies deep in human nature makes this a Sisyphean task.". He also harks back to what he calls the "ill-fated" Family Law Act 1996. Let us be clear where the blame lies for the failures to deal with this form of abuse properly: Parliament and the political parties.

There is a glimmer is light however with this final observation from the author: "Judges and rule-makers do their best to ensure that courts and law enforcement agencies are continuously aware of the scale of the problem." Frankly, Parliament isn't properly aware of the extent of domestic abuse in our society today, but we have Roger Bird's revised text as the best current help available. Thank you for continuing to give us this excellent assistance.

The law is as stated in June 2018 and the book was published on 25th July 2018.