Law and the 'Stbx': Online Fora and the ‘Delegalised Space’ of Family Law
Keywords:
Family Law, Legal Consciousness, Online Advice, Legal AidAbstract
Following the cuts to Legal Aid enacted in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO), this paper addresses the ways in which the boundaries of law are being re-drawn in the field in which the effects of these changes have been most immediate and visible, namely Family Law. It uses the term delegalised space to describe the situation in which large numbers of ex-partners who would previously have been able to access legal advice and information are now having to make arrangements with regard their finances and children with little or no contact with the courts or any formal legal advice. The paper presents a case study of the two most frequented online fora in this field – Mumsnet Talk and Netmums Coffeehouse – describing how the delegalised space also indicates a period of significant re-composition of the role of law in shaping the separation process.El artículo parte de los recortes a la Asistencia Jurídica implementados por el Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO) para ocuparse de las formas en que las fronteras de lo legal se están reconfigurando en el campo en el que los efectos de dichos cambios han sido más inmediatos y visibles, es decir, en el del Derecho de Familia. Utiliza el término espacio desregularizado para describir la situación en la que se encuentran gran número de personas separadas que anteriormente habrían podido obtener asesoramiento e información de tipo jurídico y que ahora se ven obligadas a hacer gestiones referidas a sus finanzas y sus hijos, con poco o ningún contacto con los tribunales y con ningún asesoramiento jurídico formal. El artículo presenta un estudio de caso basado en los dos foros de Internet más socorridos en esa área -Mumsnet Talk y Mumsnet Coffeehouse- y describe cómo el espacio desregularizado también denota un período de intensa recomposición del papel que desempeña el derecho a la hora de modelar el proceso de separación.
DOWNLOAD THIS PAPER FROM SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3058641
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