Why Transparency Is the Biggest Threat to the Family Court System.

Family justice systems are meant to protect the most vulnerable; children and their families.

Yet, behind closed doors, a silent crisis unfolds.

Institutions rarely collapse because of direct attacks; they fall apart when their hidden flaws are exposed.

Family justice has long survived on secrecy and opacity, shielding systemic failures from public scrutiny.

This article reveals why transparency is essential to reform, what recent data uncovers about enforcement failures, and why accountability cannot wait any longer.

If you are a parent currently going through family court, it is important that you join PAPA Plus and make use of our courses and other resources, including PAPA AI.

If you require direct assistance with your case, you can also book a call or one of our family law workshops with PAPA as a 'Plus' member.

Silence Is the Family Court System’s Greatest Asset

Family justice systems operate in a world of silence.

The public rarely sees what happens after court orders are made.

Institutions rely on this silence to maintain the appearance of functioning properly.

When family courts issue orders, the assumption is that these decisions will be respected and enforced.

But enforcement often fails, and the consequences remain hidden.

This silence protects the system from criticism.

It allows unresolved conflicts to fester, children to lose contact with parents, and families to endure prolonged distress.

The system does not collapse because of attacks but because its failures remain invisible.

Family justice has survived on opacity, but this survival comes at a high cost.

What Transparency Really Means in Family Justice

Transparency in family justice is often misunderstood.

It is not about making individual cases public or exposing private details.

Instead, transparency means revealing patterns, outcomes, and consequences across many cases.

It means shifting from secrecy to accountability.

Transparency allows the public and policymakers to see where the system works and where it fails.

It highlights systemic issues rather than isolated incidents.

This distinction is crucial because it moves the conversation from blaming individuals to addressing institutional problems.

The Question No One Was Asking

Most scrutiny in family justice focuses on how court orders are made.

Judges, lawyers, and procedures receive attention.

Yet, almost no one asks what happens after orders are issued.

Enforcement exists on paper but often fails in practice.

For example, a parent may receive a court order granting contact with their child.

But if the other parent breaches this order repeatedly, what happens next?

Are there consequences? Does the system intervene effectively?

These questions have been largely ignored, leaving enforcement as a weak link in family justice.

The Family Justice Transparency Report

The Family Justice Transparency Project (FJTR) emerged to fill this gap.

It is an independent, unfunded, volunteer-led initiative created by PAPA, because no official dataset on enforcement existed.

Over 1,400 parents came forward to share their experiences, and 954 verified parental cases were analysed.

This project provides the first large-scale audit of enforcement in family justice.

It offers data that was previously unavailable, shining a light on the realities families face after court orders are made.

What the Data Exposes

The FJTR data reveals alarming trends:

• Only 1.7% of enforcement applications resulted in punishment.

• 98.3% of breached orders carried no consequence.

• 69% of parents experienced five or more breaches before enforcement action.

• Over 50% waited more than three months for enforcement.

• 78 children lost all contact with a parent during these delays.

• 96.6% of parents said enforcement did not deter further breaches.

  
  

These numbers show that enforcement is largely ineffective.

Court orders without enforcement are advisory at best.

Warnings without consequences become meaningless.

Non-compliance turns into rational behaviour for those who know the system will not act.

Why These Numbers Are Dangerous

When enforcement fails, the entire family justice system weakens.

Orders without consequences lose authority.

Parents and children suffer from ongoing conflict and instability.

The system’s inability to enforce orders encourages repeated breaches, escalating tensions rather than resolving them.

This failure also wastes public resources.

Prolonged litigation drains courts and legal aid.

Children face emotional harm when contact is lost or delayed.

The cost of ignoring enforcement is high and affects everyone involved.

Why the System Resists Transparency

Institutions resist transparency because data challenges comforting narratives.

When enforcement failures become measurable, it exposes institutional shortcomings.

What were once seen as “exceptional cases” reveal systemic patterns.

Transparency threatens the status quo by demanding accountability.

It forces institutions to confront failures rather than hide behind secrecy.

This resistance slows reform and prolongs the crisis.

Enforcement Failure Is Not a Legal Gap

Some argue enforcement fails because of legal gaps.

The truth is enforcement powers already exist.

The Children Act 1989 provides sanctions for breaches.

The problem lies in institutional failure, not legislation.

Courts have the authority to enforce orders, but the system often lacks the will or resources to act.

This gap between law and practice must be addressed to protect families effectively.

The Cost of Opacity

The lack of transparency has real consequences:

• Litigation drags on for years.

• Conflict between parents escalates.

• Public money is wasted on ineffective processes.

• Children experience instability and loss of contact.

  
  

Opacity allows these problems to continue unchecked.

Without clear data and accountability, families remain trapped in cycles of conflict and delay.

Why Transparency Changes Everything

Transparency changes the conversation.

When patterns emerge from data, they cannot be dismissed as isolated incidents.

Outcomes become clear and cannot be spun to hide failure.

Accountability becomes unavoidable.

With transparency, policymakers, courts, and the public can push for meaningful reform.

Families gain a voice, and systemic problems become visible.

This shift is essential for a fair and effective family justice system.

Why This Report Is a Turning Point

The Family Justice Transparency Project’s report is the first large-scale enforcement audit published outside government.

It makes denial mathematically impossible.

The data provides a foundation for reform based on facts, not assumptions.

This report marks a turning point.

It challenges institutions to act and offers families hope for a system that truly protects their rights and wellbeing.

You Can’t Reform What You Won’t Measure

Reform starts with measurement.

Without transparency, problems remain hidden and unaddressed.

The silent crisis in family justice demands that enforcement be measured, understood, and improved.

Families deserve a system that enforces orders fairly and promptly.

Transparency is the key to unlocking accountability and restoring trust.

The time to act is now.

In need of help or support?

If you are an alienated parent reading this article and feel you are in need of help and support then please make sure to join PAPA today by signing up here on our website.

This will give you access to our community support forum as well as our Resource Centre, which includes downloadable guides and on-demand courses to help through the process of being alienated and regaining contact with your children.

We also have our Facebook support group that you can join here.

Our Facebook support group has several dedicated chat rooms where you can get immediate support.

If you are a member of PAPA you can also send us a message here on the website and we will try to get back to you as soon as possible but please bear in mind, we have hundreds of messages weekly so it may take us a while to get back to you.

We are currently prioritising PAPA Plus members due to high demand.

Regardless of circumstance you are not alone and at PAPA we are here to support you.

Become a PAPA Ambassador

If you like our resources, articles and support networks and agree with what we stand for then why not get involved and help us push PAPA further by joining our Ambassador Program?

We would love for you to join us and help spread awareness for parental alienation and all of the dynamics involved so that we can continue to help parents and children towards a better future.

Our Ambassador Program allows you to grow your involvement with the cause by earning points on your membership.

To earn points we have created rewards for actions such as completing one of our courses, booking a case review, or ordering supply.

We will be adding new rewards and actions to our Ambassador Program as we continue to grow our awareness efforts.

We want our members to feel rewarded for their support as we continue to look for new ways to improve the lives of those impacted by parental alienation.

You can also become a PAPA Plus member, which will give you exclusive access to even more help and resources.

Each PAPA Plus membership makes a huge difference to the cause as it really helps us to improve our services and our awareness campaigns.

Proceeds from memberships and supply allow us to push the cause much further towards raising awareness and improving our services and resources so that we can continue to help more and more parents and children.

Thank you for reading and for your continued support of PAPA and our mission to end parental alienation.