ABSTRACT

The English legal system is a complex web of statutes, case law and procedures. Applying these to social work practise provides an even more complicated situation than one at first might imagine. Since not only do social workers have to grapple with the law and apply it to their client’s cases and in the interests of their client, be it a child or adult, but they also have to manage their lawyer and the courts in the process. Coupled with the differences between legal and social work practises, training and the rules of evidence and archaic legal procedures, such a situation is tantamount to many problems and difficulties, particularly for the novice and inexperienced practitioner. Consequently, due to these observations, in this book for very good reasons, we will first and foremost examine the courts and legal system.