New Family Court comes into being must visit

A review found that vulnerable children were having their "futures undermined" by excessive delays New combined Family Courts have come into being in England and Wales as part of family justice system reforms.

The plan also includes new time frames for cases where children are taken into care and compulsory mediation awareness sessions for separating couples.

Justice Minister Simon Hughes said it was "a hugely important change" to what had been a "very dysfunctional system".

Sir James Munby, President of the Family Division, said the changes were the biggest in a lifetime.

Range of shortcomings

There are about 270,000 new family cases each year dealing with issues such as local authority intervention, divorce, domestic violence and adoption.

Continue reading the main story Clive Coleman Legal correspondent, BBC News

Removing a child from its parents and placing it in local authority care, is arguably the most draconian thing that the state does to a family. It is critical that care proceedings are conducted as comprehensively and efficiently as possible in the courts.

Babies, toddlers and teenagers going through care proceedings have been removed from their parents for their own well being and are seeking a decision on a permanent and secure home. The Family Justice Review in 2011 found care cases taking on average 56 weeks.

The new 26-week time limit should mean speedier and better outcomes for vulnerable children. But there are risks. If a biological parent is on a drug or alcohol rehabilitation programme lasting a year, it is unclear whether the time limit for the care case will be extended.

There is a power to extend the 26-week period if it is necessary to resolve the case justly, but this is new law and no one quite knows how it will be applied.

A review carried out in 2011 found that vulnerable children were having their "futures undermined" by excessive delays, with care and supervision cases taking an average of 56 weeks.

Although that has come down, the reforms address a range of shortcomings. They include rules to ensure:

Care cases are normally completed within six months in a single Family Court, which replaces the current three-tier court system in family casesSeparating couples must attend a mediation awareness session before taking disputes over their finances or their children to courtLimits on the amount of expert evidence that can be used in cases involving children, only being permitted when it is necessary to resolve the case justly

There are also changes to the way in which children are dealt with in family cases, with the abolition of labels such as "residence" and "contact", which were thought to focus on the rights of parents rather than the needs of the child.

The changes are also intended to ensure the right level of judge is appointed for a particular Family Court case, and that it is held in the most suitable location.

Justices' clerks and their assistants will be authorised to assist all judges across the Family Court.

'Cultural revolution'

BBC legal correspondent Clive Coleman said: "The new 26-week time limit should mean speedier and better outcomes for vulnerable children. But there are risks.

"There is a power to extend the 26-week period if it is necessary to resolve the case justly, but this is new law and no one quite knows how it will be applied."

Sir James Munby said: "Today marks the largest reform of the family justice system any of us have seen or will see in our professional lifetimes.

"Taken as a whole, these reforms amount to a revolution. There has been, indeed there had to be, a fundamental change in the cultures of the family courts. This is truly a cultural revolution.

"I have visited every care centre to see for myself how it is taking shape.

"These visits have brought home to me just how enthusiastically and with such determination and commitment everybody in the family justice system has embraced the process of reform: local authorities, Cafcass (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service), court staff, judges (in whom, of course, I include the magistrates), justices' clerks and the legal professions."

Family Justice Minister Simon Hughes told the BBC that under the previous system "the battle over children went on for weeks and weeks and months and months absolutely against the interests of the child".

The new rules would provide "security and certainty", he predicted, and would prevent children being "moved from pillar to post".

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Geldof's body released to family must visit

Peaches Geldof had two young sons with her second husband Tom Cohen The body of Peaches Geldof has been released to her family to allow for funeral arrangements to be made.

It comes a day after a post-mortem into the 25-year-old's death proved inconclusive.

That prompted further toxicology tests, the results of which are due in two to three weeks.

Geldof, the daughter of singer Bob Geldof and TV presenter Paula Yates died on Monday. Police are treating the death as "non-suspicious" and "sudden".

A spokesman for North West Kent coroner Roger Hatch said: "We can confirm that the body has been released to the family for funeral arrangements to be made."

Any inquest is not expected to be opened and adjourned by the coroner until after the results of the toxicology tests are known.

Bob Geldof with his daughters Pixie (left) and Peaches at a 2003 film premiere

Geldof's body was found on Monday afternoon after officers were called to the home she shared with her husband and two young sons "following a report of concern for the welfare of a woman".

Her father, the former frontman of Boomtown Rats, said the family was "beyond pain" and described Peaches as "the wildest, funniest, cleverest, wittiest and the most bonkers of all of us".

Other tributes came from Fearne Cotton, Sir Alan Sugar, Lily Allen and Geldof's elder sister Fifi Trixibelle, who posted on Instagram: "My beautiful baby sister.... Gone but never forgotten. I love you Peaches x."

The 25-year-old, a TV presenter and magazine columnist, lost her own mother to a heroin overdose at the age of 11.

She married US musician Max Drummey in Las Vegas in 2008, but the couple split amicably a year later before divorcing in 2011.

She married Thomas Cohen, lead singer of London band Scum, in September 2012 at the church in Davington, Kent, where her parents married 26 years earlier.

It was also where her mother's funeral was held.

The couple had two sons: Astala, aged 23 months, and Phaedra, aged 11 months.

In a statement released on Monday, Cohen said: "My beloved wife Peaches was adored by myself and her two sons.

"I shall bring them up with their mother in their hearts everyday. We shall love her forever."

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