Vexatious family fines

The government plans to impose financial penalties on those who bring vexatious claims to the family courts. Justice secretary, Dominic Raab, said he wants mediation to be the default process for divorcing couples. The Law Society commented: “The evidence of the past decade is that taking lawyers out of the equation led to fewer cases going to mediation, and more cases going to court”. It added, costs penalties “won’t make a difference to unrepresented parties as there are no legal costs if you don’t have a lawyer”.