Litigants in Person and the Family Justice System

This book explores the experiences of people trying to navigate the family justice system. It calls for a refocusing of the debate about the historical challenges faced by Litigants in Person as well as the next steps for the family justice system.

The legal aid reforms introduced by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, have transformed the routes through which people can resolve their private family law disputes. In particular, strict eligibility rules combined with a diminishing landscape of advice mean that increased numbers are now representing themselves in the family court.

Drawing together interviews with Litigants in Person and decades of research into self-representation from across multiple jurisdictions, this book provides an account of the family justice system through the eyes of its users. It employs an innovative socio-legal framework comprising feminist theory, a Bourdieusian theory of class, vulnerability theory, and actor-network theory to explore the journey that Litigants in Person take through the legal, cultural and social context of the family court. It provides fresh insight into the diverse challenges that people face within this process and reflects upon the importance of learning from their experiences, perceptions, and motivations moving forward after these reforms.