Domestic Abuse Commissioner Report on Family Court Reform

Legally reviewed by: Emma Cordock Oct 2025 In: Child Care

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Written by Emma Cordock, Director (Manchester and North of England) – Children Law, Cartwright King Solicitors

Domestic Abuse Commissioner Report – “Everyday Business – Addressing Domestic Abuse Continuing Harm Through a Family Court Reviews and Reporting Mechanism”

What the Report Is About

This report published in October 2025 looks at how family courts deal with domestic abuse. It shows that survivors and children can still be harmed during court cases, even after abuse has been reported. The report gives ideas on how to make things safer and fairer.

Main Ideas

• Keep survivors safe: Courts should focus on protecting people who’ve experienced abuse.
• Better training: Judges and legal staff need more training to understand abuse and its effects.
• Work together: Courts should team up with social workers, Cafcass, and abuse experts.
• Track cases: There should be a system to follow and review abuse-related cases in family courts.

Problems Found

• Some court staff don’t fully understand how abuse works.
• Courts don’t always collect evidence or assess risks in the same way.
• Abusers can still control survivors through court processes.
• Judges sometimes miss the full picture of ongoing abuse.

What Needs to Change

• Make sure survivors’ safety is the top priority.
• Improve how courts handle child contact and custody when abuse is involved.
• Use clear systems to check how courts are doing and make them accountable.

How the Report Was Made

• Interviews with judges, magistrates, and Cafcass officers.
• Focus groups with survivors of domestic abuse.
• Observations of nearly 100 court hearings.
• Review of 300 child arrangement cases.
• Research done at three family court locations.

The full report can be found here Everyday-Business-full-report-web.pdf