On 28 November 2017, a group of refugee women living in Oxford met for the third instalment of a series of refugee insight workshops being delivered by Lawyers Against Poverty. This session looked at family law within England and Wales. The first two sessions had looked at employment law and criminal law.
Christine Plews, a local family lawyer from Blake Morgan delivered the session to the women, who were free to ask any questions that they had throughout the session. The aim of this particular session was to provide the local refugee community with knowledge and information on general aspects of family law, including practical matters such as how and where you can get married in England and Wales and rights acquired upon marriage. The session also looked at the process involved in getting a divorce, including how children and finances will be dealt with by the courts, as well as offering general information on social norms.
As well as being an informative session for all it was a great opportunity for local lawyers to connect with the local refugee community and discuss what it is like to live in the UK!