I returned to the Birmingham Civil and Family Justice Centre to attend the swearing in of 5 new magistrates who will be joining the Birmingham & Solihull bench in the coming year.
I also had a super meeting with Support through Court, a national charity that works at 9 Civil and Family Courts across the country ( together with an online service ) to help parties better understand the legal process that they will be experiencing. Typical cases that they assist with are financial claims, housing and children related.
The demand for support has increased significantly since reductions in legal aid, with a large number of participants in legal cases nowadays having no legal representation. The charity assisted over 45,000 clients last year.
Support through Court relies on circa 1,000 volunteers, which I was pleased to note includes a number of students studying law at Birmingham City University