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Posted by Cheryl Bennett

Divorcing parents could be well advised to try mediation before taking their case to court as legal aid may be refused if such routes are not attempted first.

Reviews of the system are currently ongoing, with almost 45,000 custody cases in Wales and England heard last year at a cost of £143 million, the BBC reports.

And the justice minister, Jonathan Djanogly, has said that too many parents fighting for custody use the courts as a "first answer", which costs the taxpayer tens of millions of pounds annually.

"Often it's dealing with contact with children or intimate personal relationships that really shouldn't be going before the courts. We are determined to look at this," he remarked.

In October 2009, an assessment of legal aid delivery - headed by Sir Ian Magee - was launched to ensure that the money spent in this area delivers best value, while providing a sustainable future for social welfare law and integrating the criminal justice system with the criminal defence service.

08/10/2010 12:06