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Hello,
A friend of mine is having an issue with access to his children, before phoning my solicitor and asking for a favour I thought I would post a question here.
Background
My friend split up was is girlfriend some time ago (not sure exact date), he was seeing his child. They had a bit of an argument, she got new boyfriend and now she does not let him see his child. My friend does not work, so he gets legal aid.
He is trying to get access to his kids via court. He has had 2 court appearance and on both occasion his solicitor been around due to holidays so he has had a stand in. His Ex makes a very good argument as to why he should not be allowed to see the child and claims that he does drugs / drink / violence etc.
His solicitor just said nothing, he tried to comment but was told to 'shut up' buy the judge.
... please note, I am getting this 3 hand as its a cousin of my girlfriend and my girlfriend has been speaking to his mum.
He has been told to keep quite and let his solicitor talk, but he doesn't say anything and the judge listens to his ex and no one defends him.
The problem is, the case keep getting adjourned and this means more time without his kids.
My advice to him (via the girlfriend) is to complain the his solicitor about lack of voice in court. As far as I know he can run out of legal aid so the fact that he is been badly represented is not good.
Also, he is not very good with this type of situation. I think he is making it easy for his ex to get the better of him.
His Ex is representing herself.
Any other advice? Can he complain to the court? Would he get a legal aid credit reset if he 'sacks' the solicitor.
Thanks
I'm not sure what the position is with legal aid in respect of sacking your solicitor and asking for a new one - the Childrens Law Centre may be able to help, or alternatively contact the OSS (law society) to see if they will give advice, or the citizens advice bureau. It is also an unfortunate reality that legal assistance work is not lucrative, and the lawyers who take it on are often stretched by a massive workload.
Generally, if you are represented in court by a solicitor, then they speak to the court on your behalf, and unless the judge speaks to you directly, then you are not allowed to speak, as your friend has found out. If your friends solicitor is not helping, then he could consider representing himself and taking a MacKenzie's friend - they are there to support and assist, and not to speak, so your friend would have to stand up and speak - I am pretty sure you need permission from the court in advance to take one along. The courts do make allowances for the fact that people representing themselves are not practiced in court so not being fluent will not go against him.
Hi Spider,
This is not child law as such, so the Children's Legal Centre would not be able to give advice on this.
You could try Community Legal Advice who offer a free, confidential and impartial service. Their website is located here or their helpline number is 0845 345 4 345.
I hope this is of some help.
Gooner
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