Excel Barristers
Family Law
Family law barristers deal with an array of cases arising from marital, civil union or cohabitation breakdown and related issues concerning children.
Ms Hashmi’s practice in family law is confined to domestic abuse hearings under the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 and private children law proceedings under the Children Act 1989. She accepts instructions from professional and lay clients on a publicly funded and privately funded basis as well as from lay clients via public access on a privately funded basis
Domestic abuse is an abhorrent crime perpetrated on victims and their families by those who should love and care for them. This landmark Bill will help transform the response to domestic abuse, helping to prevent offending, protect victims and ensure they have the support they need
Victoria Atkins MP, Minister for Safeguarding
Domestic Abuse
The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 which received Royal Assent on 29th April 2021:
- created a statutory definition of domestic abuse, emphasising that domestic abuse is not just physical violence, but can also be emotional, controlling or coercive, and economic abuse;
- established in law the office of Domestic Abuse Commissioner and set out the Commissioner’s functions and powers;
- extended the scope of coercive and controlling behaviour to incorporate abuse post-separation;
- ensured that statutory presumption is made under the Act, that victims be eligible for special measures in criminal, family and civil courts (for example, to provide evidence via video link);
- gave the Police new powers to issue civil Domestic Abuse Protection Notices (“DVPN”). These provide victims with immediate protection from offenders and require them to leave the home for up to 48 hours;
- gave Magistrates’ courts jurisdiction to be able to issue Domestic Abuse Protection Orders (“DVPO”) following an application by the Police.
Ms Hashmi works closely with various domestic abuse charities and supports and represents victims of domestic violence and their families in getting much-needed protection from those who have perpetrated abuse against them.
She is a court appointed cross-examiner pursuant to the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, as a result of the statutory presumption afforded to victims of domestic abuse who are eligible for special measures to be applied during court hearings. This assists victims of domestic abuse who are too frightened or intimidated when facing their abusers or putting questions to them in substantive proceedings in court This involves but is not limited to applications and substantive hearings involving non-molestation orders and occupation orders.
Domestic abuse can take many different forms and is defined as “an incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening, degrading and violent behaviour, including sexual violence, in the majority of cases by a partner or ex-partner, but also by a family member or carer”. Anyone can be a victim of domestic abuse regardless of gender, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity or socio-economic background. Domestic abuse is not limited to sexual or physical violence but can also encompass other types of abuse such as;
- Coercive control
- Gaslighting and emotional abuse
- Financial or economic abuse
Coercive control is defined as “an act or a pattern of acts of assault, threats, humiliation and intimidation or other abuse” cps.gov.uk. Abusers will exercise coercive controlling behaviours to various extents to either punish, harm or frighten their victims. They may, for instance, try and control the victim by;
- using isolation as a means to disrupt relationships between the victim and other family members or friends.
- verbally degrading, undermining, dehumanising or humiliating the victim.
- exercising control over the victim’s life, including everyday activities, contact with friends or family and isolating the victim from others.
- displaying threatening behaviours, including threats to the victim’s children.
- forcing the victim to take part in criminal activities.
- depriving the victim of medical care.
- preventing the victim from leaving their home and accessing transportation.
Gaslighting is a type of manipulation tactic and emotionally abusive behaviour whereby the abuser will make the victim doubt their perception of reality and mental sanity. The abuser may, for instance, trivialise the victims’ emotions and accuse them of for example;
- confusing or incorrectly recalling past events;
- inventing past events;
- not thinking clearly and acting paranoid;
- imagining things.
According to the Care Act 2014, financial abuse is a type of abuse where money or other property may be stolen from the victim; they may also be defrauded, put under pressure concerning money or other property, and have money or other property misused by their abuser. Examples of this involve cases where the abuser;
- fails to return borrowed money from the victim;
- steals money or other possessions from the victim;
- forces the victim to overwrite financial assets, property, pensions or wills;
- or takes benefits or from the victim against their will.
Victims of domestic abuse can be provided with assistance and protection by the family courts in many ways including but not limited to:
- A Non-Molestation Order is a court order which is intended to stop the abuser from further psychologically abusing, physically threatening, harassing or intimidating the victim. Non-molestation orders can be obtained on an urgent (ex-parte) basis and may be granted without notice to the other party. Breaching a non-molestation order is an arrestable offence where the abuser may be imprisoned for up to 5 years. These orders can be obtained against spouses and ex-spouses, civil or former civil partners, family members, intimate partners or co-parents and can last for up to a year.
- An Occupation Order is an order made by the family courts which determines who may or may not enter and live in a property. It can exclude someone even if they solely or jointly own the property. It is generally granted in serious circumstances. An occupation order can be obtained on an urgent (ex parte) basis, but usually other party will be given notice of this apart from in exceptional cases.
Private Children Act Proceedings
Children act proceedings under the Children Act 1989 may become necessary if parents are unable to agree arrangements for a child or children, if one parent wishes to relocate abroad or to another part of the UK or if the child’s parents need assistance from the court in resolving specific issues relating to their parental responsibility, for example over where a child should go to school. When making an Order, the child’s welfare will be the Court’s paramount consideration. The Court has a “welfare checklist” which are in essence the issues it will pay consider seriously before making a decision.
The majority of applications made to the Court under the Children Act 1989 ask the court one or more of the following orders:
- A Child Arrangements Order to determine where a child shall live and how often they should spend time with the other party, or whether there should be an Order for shared care;
- A Specific Issue Order to determine a particular issue e.g. which school a child should attend, whether a child should participate in a religious ceremony etc.
- A Prohibited Steps Order to prevent something being done in relation to a child e.g. change of name, change of school, taken out of the country, preventing the child spending time with a specific person.
If you require assistance with completing forms required for the aforementioned types of applications, including drafting witness statement and preparing a bundle of evidence, or if you just require assistance with representation in court we are able to assist you with all of the above. In certain situations like domestic abuse cases, you may be entitled to legal aid however this will depend on the specific facts of the case.
