Bailiwick Express Interview with Barbara Corbett about specialist family courts in Jersey
12th May 2025
Advocate Barbara Corbett was interviewed by Megan Davies from Bailiwick Express and the Jersey Evening Post about the possibility of introducing specialist drug and alcohol family courts in Jersey. read more below:
Article below by Megan Davies
“Really good parents” who are struggling with issues like drugs or alcohol could be helped by a specialist court that meets families every other week in an effort to help them break the cycle of addiction.
With addiction one of the most common reasons for children to be removed from their families, enthusiasm is growing for the introduction of a Family Drug and Alcohol Court in Jersey.
This would be used as an alternative to ordinary care proceedings in a bid to create a more humane environment to help families.
Leading divorce and family lawyer Advocate Barbara Corbett has been championing the scheme, including at a recent conference that saw senior UK lawyers visit the island.
Family Drug and Alcohol Courts have been successful in the UK – so how do they work and what could they bring to Jersey?
A “cyclical” problem
“It was really emotional,” Advocate Corbett said of one case she had worked on.
“A young woman [who] really loved her little boy, he was three, and she just couldn’t stop drinking.
“There were empty wine bottles, vast amounts. She went into Silkworth Lodge.
“She did try, but she couldn’t manage it, and it was all just too much for her.
“So she ended up back drinking, and because she couldn’t, within the little boy’s timescales, she couldn’t get off the alcohol, she lost him and he and he was adopted by by strangers.
“It was a closed adoption, so she would never see him again.”
Pictured: Advocate Barbara Corbett has been championing the introduction of a Family Drug and Alcohol Court in Jersey.
Advocate Corbett added: “It was so emotional, because at the time, William Bailhache was the judge, and he was so kind.
“He really praised her for her efforts, and he said that you haven’t managed it, but you did try, and we all know you tried.”
Often, addiction is cyclical, the advocate said.
“That’s the biggest problem: there’s a cycle of whatever it might be – whether it’s drinking, whether it’s domestic abuse – whatever the problems are, they’re cyclical, and one family is dysfunctional, and then the children are traumatised and damaged by their experiences within their family, and then, if you don’t catch it soon and early enough, they go on to have their own children, and then it carries on again,” she explained.
“The terribly sad thing is that you’re working with a family, and you’ve got a 15-year-old, and she is the focus of everyone’s attention, and you want to do the very best for this child who’s in the system.
“The next thing is that she’s pregnant, and all of a sudden, that 15-year-old child doesn’t count as much as her baby.”
An Family Drug and Alcohol Court, she said, would hopefully reduce the number of children and families in the care system.
“Hopefully it will break that cycle,” said Advocate Corbett.
Family Drug and Alcohol Courts
Specialist Family Drug and Alcohol Courts (or FDACs) started to be introduced in the UK in 2008 – the outcome of campaigning by District Judge Nick Crichton.
Judge Crichton, who died in 2018, pioneered the project in central London before it was adopted by more and more UK courts.
There are now 13 specialist FDAC teams across England, working in 19 courts. The only Welsh FDAC was disbanded when it couldn’t get funding.
The aim of these specialist courts is to help keep some of the most vulnerable families together by supporting parents through their addiction issues.
Often, these are “really good parents” who don’t mean to harm their children, according to Advocate Corbett – but their addiction means they might have violent criminals knocking on the door to collect money, or the parent might be too intoxicated to protect their child.
Currently, care proceedings often mean children have to be taken away because the parents can’t change quickly enough for the court.
“There are so many of these kind of cases, and because the parents aren’t necessarily bad people, it’s just the circumstances they’re in and the grip of the addiction,” said Advocate Corbett.
“If you could resolve that, then in the majority of cases, the children could stay at home.”
Under the FDAC model, families are brought into court every fortnight to monitor their progress in informal hearings. They take place without lawyers, Advocate Corbett explained, but their social worker and a psychologist or psychiatrist would form a team that attends the hearings.
UK figures show that around 40% of mothers and 25% of fathers in FDACs stopped misusing substances, compared to 25% of mothers and 5% of fathers in traditional courts.
The FDAC gives families “homework” that tackles addiction, underlying mental health problems, and parenting – and could even include measures like parents taking up exercise to take their mind off of drugs.
“It’s intensive and there are people there at all times to be support and to be at the end of the phone or to meet them,” said Advocate Corbett.
And if the child can’t be kept safe despite all the best efforts of the FDAC, families return to ordinary care proceedings – the same route they follow now.
“Having gone through the process, the chances are they might have learnt something on the way, and they might have not so many challenges going forwards,” Advocate Corbett explained.
“It might be that some things are better, and it might be that they can maintain a relationship through contact.
“If children are placed with family members, then it’s possible for them to continue having relationship with the children.”
What would it take to get a FDAC in Jersey?
For an FDAC to be created in Jersey, there might need to be a change in legislation and a decision on where it should sit – perhaps in the Royal Court with a judge and a Jurat, or in the Family Court.
The FDAC’s powers could be expanded to deal with more than just alcohol and drugs, Advocate Corbett added.
The Family Justice Council and the Deputy Bailiff were committed to creating the FDAC, Advocate Corbett said, adding that she thought the Bailiff and Jurats were committed too.
Next up are politicians, including the Minister for Children and the Minister for Home Affairs.
England and Wales Court of Appeal judge Lord Justice Peter Jackson – whom Advocate Corbett describes as “the FDAC guru” was among the speakers, along with a district court judge and barristers and solicitors who have been involved with FDACs.
The investment into an FDAC – which would come from children’s social care services – would pay for itself both in the short and long term, Advocate Corbett argued.
“A bit of change in attitude“
The island has been host to a number of speakers who are keen on the idea, including Lord Justice Peter Jackson who spoke at the recent Child Law Conference.
The event was attended by the Deputy Bailiff, who set up the Family Justice Council, and the Bailiff attended the start of the session, Advocate Corbett said.
“The Family Justice Council has taken on board FDACs and moving towards FDACs,” she explained.
“And at the beginning, there was a bit of – a lot, actually – of pushback from the Minister for Children.”
Advocate Corbett continued: “I think when we had the conference, Commissioner Wright and Judge McFadzean took Lord Justice Peter Jackson and Judge Venables, who was the other the lower level judge, to meet the Minister for Children and the Deputy Bailiff and possibly another minister, and actually introduced them and got them talking, and there’s been a bit of change in attitude, and they’re now talking more positively about bringing it into Jersey.”
Previously, politicians had been more skeptical about the idea.
Speaking to a Scrutiny panel in February, both Home Affairs Minister Mary Le Hegarat and Children’s Minister Richard Vibert said they didn’t remember where the idea had come from and said they would need to see data to back up the proposal.
Both said they needed to see precise proposals for the FDAC before they could move ahead with it, and were reluctant to promise funding.
Deputy Le Hegarat also argued that resources were already sparse, including courts struggling to schedule everything they need, and asked what provision would need to fall away for an FDAC to be introduced.
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