It is therefore vital that those working within family justice understand how each profession thinks and operates. This Handbook, fully updated to take account of all recent developments including the introduction of the Public Law Outline, highlights the essentials of family justice, explains what the responsibilities of the respective professionals are and how they interact. Though not a legal text book, it does however set out the important principles of law that underpin the system to provide an accessible guide to newcomers, as well as to established professionals who need information about the ways other disciplines work and are organised.