Exclusive: Courts in England and Wales unable to attract sufficient numbers of advocates

A scheme designed to ensure people representing themselves in court do not have to be questioned by their abuser is failing due to lack of resources, family law experts have said.

Since last year, family and civil courts have been required in certain cases to appoint a qualified legal representative (QLR) so that litigants in person are not cross-examined by the perpetrator or alleged perpetrator of their abuse and vice versa, but there has been a shortage of lawyers signing up to the scheme.