"Judges, magistrates and tribunal members sit in many jurisdictions, and the way in which court proceedings are conducted across these jurisdiction can be very different - from adversarial cases involving lawyers, to sitting informally round a table discussing issues with the judge."
Judge's role in a family case
Family circuit judges deal mainly with two sorts of work. They deal with private cases which are disputes involving parents about their children for instance who they should live with, who they should see, where they should go to school or even if they can move to live abroad with one of their parents. The cases can involve grandparents and other relatives too.
The second sort of work is what is called public work when local councils take action to remove children from their parents' care because they are being hurt in some way. These cases can lead to those children being adopted and the judge deals with that as well.
Work of a Family Judge in the county court
Hearings in the family courts are in private and only those who are involved can attend. The judge does not wear robes and the proceedings are much more informal than those in a criminal court so that people who are often frightened and nervous do not feel intimidated and can tell the judge what they want to say. The people in the cases will know each other, they may be angry and upset and feelings can run high. The case can cause distress and a family judge has to try to keep people calm and be sensitive to everyone’s point of view. Sometimes witnesses are too frightened or upset to be in the courtroom and arrangements can be made to help them by using a video link.
The judge will usually have all the papers the day before so will know all about the case before it comes into court. Such cases can take a long time to resolve and it is important that those involved see the same judge throughout the case if possible so that there is a consistent approach to dealing with the problems that are being addressed.
The parties are usually represented by lawyers who have been specially trained to do this difficult and sensitive work. The judges are specially trained too as these cases affect peoples’ lives in a very close and sometimes devastating way. The children the judge is dealing with have their own lawyer in public cases and can have a lawyer in private cases if the judge thinks they should. In both cases the judge will have reports from an expert court officer who will talk to the children and get to know their wishes. These cases can take a long time to sort out and it is important to remember that the judge has to put the children’s interests and welfare first as sadly this is what the parties involved have sometimes forgetten.