Dr Nazia Yaqub aims to improve family court services in Parliamentary inquiry
Dr Yaqub submitted evidence to the Public Accounts Committee’s inquiry into improving family court services for children.
The inquiry was concerned with the effectiveness of the family court system in England and Wales in delivering timely, fair outcomes for children and families, amid rising caseloads and delays.
Her written evidence calls for reforms to embed a child-centred, whole-system approach across family, immigration and criminal courts. Dr Yaqub believes that the current system is fragmented, reactive, and insufficiently coordinated across agencies such as the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), the Ministry of Justice, social services, immigration and probation services.
Between 2021 and 2024, she collaborated on an interdisciplinary study exploring court practices in cases that span the family, immigration and criminal courts. Prior to this, she conducted research on the rights of children to make decisions on matters affecting them, and the practice of the family courts in hearing from children in domestic and international cases.
Based on her research, she makes the following recommendations:
- Embed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989 (UNCRC) into domestic family law to provide statutory guarantees for children’s participation and welfare in family justice proceedings.
- Expand and resource Cafcass to operate across family, immigration, and criminal courts.
- Require child impact assessments and active engagement with children affected by cases before all courts.
- Fund robust data collection and longitudinal research to monitor outcomes and drive continuous improvement.
Dr Yaqub says:
Children’s rights are often overlooked when immigration and criminal courts make decisions about parents that profoundly affect their children. Extending the family court’s child-centred practices, where welfare officers ensure children are heard, into these settings would make our justice system more coherent and deliver better outcomes for children.
The Committee’s final report Improving family court services for children draws on evidence from stakeholders including Dr Yaqub.
Dr Yaqub is a fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a member of the Centre for Law and Social Justice and the Centre for Criminal Justice Studies. You can find her on Bluesky @Drnazia-yaqub and on LinkedIn here.
