RACE AND CULTURE IN FAMILY LAW


24th Sep 2021

18 St John Street are proud to share with you this important and topical article written by Olivia Edwards which was recently published by The Family Law Journal.

In 2020, the world witnessed the escalation of events concerning racial and cultural matters such as the killing of George Floyd by a policeman, the highly publicised trial of Derek Chauvin, the killing of Breonna Taylor and the recent creation of the Black Lives Matter movement.

The legal profession in the UK has also not escaped scrutiny in the context of race and culture and these issues have become an increasingly difficult conversation, there is the highly anticipated Executive committee of the Northern Circuit race panel report concerning the investigation into racial barriers to ethnic minorities into the bar, the increase of ethnic minority children into the care system and increased migration. All of these issues have thrown the spotlight onto matters concerning race and culture within the family legal system.

Family law practitioners are moving into a formative era whereby the importance of race, culture and ethnicity in our profession is coming into greater focus and informing decision making both professionally and personally. The attached article addresses how issues of race and culture may impact upon family law cases and will hopefully provide some guidance to lawyers as to how to improve their practice.

To read the full article please see below.


Olivia Edwards is a member of the Family Department at 18 St John Street Chambers. For more information, please click the links highlighted above or contact a member of the family clerking team on 0161 278 8263 or via email family@18sjs.com