Judicial Monitoring of Compliance: Introducing ‘Problem Solving’ Approaches to Domestic Violence Courts in England and Wales

Abstract

This article examines the development of specialist domestic violence courts. It overviews the features of ‘problem solving’ courts and considers the extent to which the fledgling domestic violence courts in England and Wales are adopting the problem solving approaches found in some specialist courts in the United States of America. Whilst noting some of the successes of the first seven domestic violence courts in England and Wales, the article concludes that more effective interventions in domestic violence cases can be achieved through greater involvement of the judiciary in ongoing monitoring of the defendant’s compliance with court ordered perpetrator programmes.