Litigants in person in private family law cases

1. Context (p1-2 of the Report) The Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO) 2012 removed most private family cases from the scope of legal aid after April 2013. It was anticipated that the volume and proportion of litigants in person (hereafter LIPs) would increase as a result. The Ministry of Justice commissioned research to explore both the characteristics and support needs of LIPs in private family law cases and their impact on the courts prior to the implementation of legal aid reforms. It was designed to inform policy and practice responses to LIPs following the legal aid changes. 2. Research design (p3-10 and p136-164 of the Report) The study was designed to develop understanding of the range of litigants in person in private family law cases, their behavioural drivers and support needs, and their impact on the court system. The research was designed as a primarily qualitative study focusing on understanding the range of experiences and perspectives, rather than a quantitative study seeking to measure variables. The research included three linked studies: • Intensive Cases Study (ICS). The largest element of the research involved detailed analysis of a sample of 151 cases heard in five courts over a three to four week data collection time frame in each court between January and March 2013. The approach was multi-perspectival, involving observation of the hearing in each case, interviews with the parties and professionals associated with the observed case (subject to consent and availability) and scrutiny of the court file. • Local Contextual Study (LCS). This involved a series of focus groups in each of the five courts with local stakeholders (judges, lawyers, Cafcass and court staff), interviews and observations with local LIP support organisations and observations of public areas such as court counters and waiting rooms. • Secondary Analysis Study (SAS). This involved secondary analysis relating to LIPs of two large national datasets from two current studies led by members of the research team. 3. Main findings 3.1 Characteristics of LIPs (p11-34 of the Report) The major reason for self-representation was an inability to afford a lawyer, with only around one quarter of LIPs indicating that their appearance in person was wholly or partially a matter of choice. Over half of the LIPs observed had had legal representation at some stage during the current proceeding and/or in previous family law proceedings. Only a small minority of LIPs were able to represent themselves competently in all aspects of their family law proceedings. Even those with high levels of education or professional experience struggled with aspects of the legal process. The great majority of LIPs were procedurally (and, where relevant, legally) challenged in some way, with some having no real capacity to advocate for their own or their children’s interests. A wide range of personal vulnerabilities were identified with around half of those observed experiencing one or more vulnerabilities which often added to their difficulties in self-representation and in some cases defeated their attempts to do so. A significant number were also trying to handle quite complex cases. LIPs may create problems for the courts by reason of non-appearances, refusal to engage with proceedings, or, less often, violent and aggressive behaviour. While non-appearances may be quite common, the reasons for apparent resistance to court proceedings, as for violence and aggression, may often be related to litigants’ vulnerabilities. Unmeritorious and serial applications did not appear to be brought any more often by the LIPs in the sample than by represented parties, although having to respond to these applications was another vulnerability faced by some women LIPs. 3.2 Pre-hearing preparations (p35-51 of the Report) Much of the work in a family case is conducted before and between hearings rather than in the courtroom itself. The list of tasks to be accomplished in the pre-court and between-hearing phases is quite extensive and technically and practically demanding. The list includes determining legal merits and translating a dispute into legal form; consideration of mediation; making an application using the correct form and filing and serving correctly; possible negotiation with the other side in the waiting room and subsequent handling of the case (e.g. handling disclosure, preparing and filing statements). The successful completion of these tasks was important for the smooth running of the case and for timely and effective hearings. The extent to which LIPs were able to complete those tasks was highly variable. Understandably, many LIPs struggled with a range of technical tasks, including understanding which application form to use, how to complete it and how to file and serve correctly. Some LIPs faced practical problems such as an inability to access or print out online forms. Many LIPs also did not grasp foundational legal principles or concepts such as the importance of disclosure or the expectation of negotiation or settlement. A significant part of the problem is that the family justice system and the pre-court processes, procedures and tasks are predicated on a full representation model with two trained and experienced lawyers undertaking all these preparatory tasks. At least at the time of the fieldwork, there had been limited adaptation of processes to support LIPs and instead LIPs were largely required to comply with existing processes. There had been comparatively little adaptation of documentation (forms, guidance, letters from court etc) to meet the needs of LIPs. There was limited face-to face contact, advice and support at all stages of the pre-court process and on arrival in the court building before the hearing. The support available from court service staff varied locally but was constrained by concerns about straying into giving legal advice. The reduction in court counter hours and switch to an appointment system in some courts has reduced further the opportunities for face-to-face support. The challenging and complex nature of the pre-hearing tasks, coupled with limited support and advice, was a source of anxiety and stress for many LIPs. It also had consequences for court service staff workloads as they had to deal with correspondence from LIPs or pick up the errors or omissions in LIP paperwork. Some of the problems also had a significant impact on the conduct of the hearing itself. 3.3 In the courtroom (p52-78 of the Report) The court system is based on an adversarial, full representation model with two lawyers presenting their client’s cases to an impartial arbiter – the judge – who will make a decision. The role of the lawyers is central. Hearings where both parties were represented were generally patterned, predictable and efficient. All participants understood their roles without any need for explanation or behaviour management. LIP hearings were far less standardised. There was considerable variation in who picked up the tasks that a lawyer would normally perform in their absence – whether it was a LIP, the judge, the lawyer for the represented party or nobody. There was also variation in how effectively those tasks were done. The data suggested that semi-represented cases had longer final hearings and required more hearings than fully represented and non-represented cases. Cases with a LIP were more likely to require adjudication or be withdrawn or dismissed. Secondary analysis of a dataset of financial remedy contested hearings also suggested that LIP cases were less likely to settle and less likely to settle early than fully represented cases. There was variation in how well LIP hearings appear to work or not work in court. Four types appeared relatively fair and efficient/effective: umbrella semi – the represented party’s lawyer works on behalf of both parties; third party (quasi) lawyer – the children’s lawyer acts as broker for both LIPs; fully inquisitorial judge – the judge takes on the role of lawyer(s) and judge holding-their-own LIPs – a competent LIP manages a simple hearing with support from the judge. Four types of hearing appeared inefficient/ineffective or unfair: “hot potato” hearings - chaotic hearings with disruptive LIPs, adjourned or listed for contested hearings; over-confident LIPs - rambling hearings unable to restrict LIPs to legally relevant matters; out of their depth LIPs – LIPs unable to understand/accomplish tasks resulting in longer or extra hearings and unprotected LIPs - LIPs unable to explore concerns/present case. A combination of factors appears to influence how well courts and LIPs cope. These include matter and hearing type (directions vs. substantive hearing), the approach of the judge and any legal representative, the availability of any facilitative third party and the capacity of the LIP(s). The availability of additional professional (legal) support for the LIP was often key to success. Three of the four types of ‘working’ hearings involved either a supportive lawyer or an activist/inquisitorial judge. Causes of delay included LIPs’ lack of understanding and experience meaning sometimes critical tasks were missed out, were done inadequately or were completed by the LIP only with considerable coaching and support from others, particularly judges. Ensuring equality of arms between parties was a real challenge, notably when a LIP was unaware of their legal entitlements and/or unable to do justice to their case. Judges varied considerably in the extent to which they helped LIPs, in itself a source of potential unfairness. Judicial attempts to support LIPs could be seen as unfair to represented parties in semi-representation cases. Two key ‘legal’ tasks - the preparation of bundles and cross-examination - were beyond the capacity of most LIPs unless they had considerable help. 3.4 The support needs of litigants in person (p79-100 of the Report) The LIP experience was mixed, sometimes better than expected but often stressful and confusing. LIPs reported fear and anxiety about the process, feeling marginalised and bewilderment and confusion, regardless of educational level. Factors that made the experience more positive were judges and sometimes opposing solicitors who took time to explain things and being able to draw upon previous experience of being at court. A degree of self-assurance or confidence was helpful, although over-confidence and an over-estimation of one’s understanding of the process could cause difficulties. The main support needs identified by LIPs were for information about process and procedure, emotional support, practical support and tailored legal advice including broad questions about their entitlements and specific questions about tactics and tasks. LIPs varied enormously in terms both of willingness and ability to seek support and of the effectiveness with which support was sought. A minority of LIPs were proactive in searching for information without any prompting by the courts. The proactive LIPs could be divided into the capable/organised and those with a scattergun/shot in the dark approach, although even the capable/organised could find it difficult to find the information they needed. Reactive LIPs responded to instructions or suggestions from family justice professionals, especially where those instructions were clear and precise. Passive LIPs relied on others to provide help, did not engage with the court process or had chaotic lifestyles. Support for LIPs at the time of the study was disparate, variable and limited. The internet has potential for informing LIPs, as well as some very significant drawbacks in relation to relevance, accuracy as well as accessibility for all. Few of the LIPs interviewed reported using the HMCTS or MoJ websites and those who did reported they did not meet their needs. Further, not all LIPs have access to online resources and, even for those who do, websites cannot adequately substitute for the tailored legal advice that many LIPs require. LIPs reported frustration that organisations like CABx, the court service and Cafcass were not able to offer advice and advised them to seek legal advice that could not be afforded. There is a dearth of free or low-cost legal advice in the community. Family and friends could be very helpful acting as informal supporters, but the development of paid ‘professional’ McKenzie Friends was a source of real concern to judges, lawyers and Cafcass officers. As previous studies have found, the courts did little signposting to sources of support. Professional training in how to support LIPs is needed. The development of support services for LIPs and training for professionals should be informed by, and responsive to, the different needs and help-seeking approaches of LIPs. 4. Policy Implications and Recommendations (p101-125 of the Report) 4.1 LIPS after 1st April 2013: eligibility for legal aid and the ‘new’ LIPs Chapter 6 of the Report considers the policy and practice implications of the findings reported above. The chapter begins with consideration of how far the findings are likely to apply after 1 April 2013. The available evidence suggested that the majority of represented parties in the sample who were in receipt of legal aid would no longer be eligible for legal aid after the LASPO reforms. In comparison with the observed pre-LASPO LIPs, the researchers would expect that LIPs post-LASPO would be less likely to be partially represented and more likely to present with vulnerabilities which affect their capacity to represent themselves effectively and create challenges for the courts in terms of safety at court, testing, disclosure and safeguarding children 4.2 Recommendations The report identified that LIPs have considerable needs for support across several dimensions. It also identified what the researchers consider to be best practices for meeting those needs, based on the team’s review of the literature and the observations and interviews with LIPs and family justice system professionals. It has not been part of the research team’s brief, however, to analyse the cost-benefit of these proposals or to produce a fully worked-up blueprint for change. This section, therefore, summarises the broad recommendations arising from the team’s analysis of the literature and the research data. Further detailed policy and operational consideration will of course be required to determine how these recommendations could be implemented. Information needs • That all relevant family justice communications, including forms, leaflets, practice directions, templates and pro forma, are re-evaluated from the perspective of LIPs and (if necessary) redesigned with their various needs in mind. • That a single authoritative ‘official’ family court website is established with all the resources that a LIP needs in one place. • That the court’s communication with parties prior to the first hearing is used more effectively to convey important information to LIPs. • That judges are encouraged to give LIPs clear verbal instructions and guidance on process and procedure. • That the court service provides increased opportunity for face-to-face inquiries with relevant court staff and that guidelines and training for court staff are devised to facilitate information-giving whilst avoiding giving advice. Emotional/moral support • That there is a presumption that a single family member, friend or volunteer may accompany a LIP in court to offer emotional/moral support without the need to submit a formal CV. • That consideration is given to the development of a code of conduct, practice guidance or regulatory framework for paid/’professional’ McKenzie Friends. Practical support and legal knowledge • That initial legal advice to facilitate dispute resolution and, where necessary, for initial preparation for court proceedings is made universally available. • That providing support for LIPs in a consistent way in both semi-represented and non-represented cases is understood as a key element of the judicial role; and that judicial officers receive appropriate guidance and training to do so. • That measures are introduced to ensure greater availability of and access to exceptional case funding in private family law matters. • That a mechanism is introduced to enable judicial recommendation for the provision of publicly funded representation in the interests of justice. • That the MoJ consider which other forms of legal and procedural assistance outlined in this Chapter for LIPs engaged in court proceedings can feasibly be supported or implemented. Other issues • Follow up independent research is needed to examine the impact of the legal aid reforms on the types and experiences of LIPs, their impact on the court system and the effectiveness of innovations and services to support LIPs

Finding Fault? Divorce Law and Practice in England and Wales

This is the final version of the report. Available from Nuffield Foundation via the link in this record.1. Key messages The law of divorce in England and Wales has been subject to criticism for decades, most recently following the rare defended case of Owens v Owens. This major research study aimed to explore how the law is working in practice. The current law and use of fault The sole ground for divorce in England and Wales is the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage. But a divorce may be granted only if one of five ‘Facts’ is proved. Whilst many people might assume this is required, it is not necessary to prove that that ‘Fact’ was a cause of the breakdown. Three Facts are fault-based: adultery, behaviour, and desertion. Two Facts are based on separation: two years if the other spouse consents to divorce, five years if they do not. In 2015, 60% of English and Welsh divorces were granted on adultery or behaviour. In Scotland, where different procedural and related legal rules create different incentive structures, it was just 6%. Elsewhere, fault has been abolished or is just one option, and often a practically insignificant one, among several divorce grounds. The continuing problems of fault Academic research and Law Commission reviews from the 1970s onwards reported serious problems with the divorce law, including the lack of honesty of the system with the parties exaggerating behaviour allegations to get a quick divorce, while the court could do little more than ‘pretend’ to inquire into allegations. This study found that those problems continue and have worsened in some respects. Fault, especially behaviour, continues to be relied on to secure a faster divorce. The consequence is that parties often feel under pressure to exaggerate allegations or retro-fit the reasons for their separation into one of the legal Facts, even though the court’s expectations of what is required to make out each Fact is now actually very low, particularly for behaviour. The court has a duty to inquire into allegations but in practice in undefended cases only has the capacity to take the petitioner’s allegations at face value. That is procedurally unfair for the great majority of respondents who cannot defend themselves against the allegations. Parties embarking on the process might reasonably assume that the law is underpinned by a fault-based logic: that petitions should reflect who and what was to blame for the relationship breakdown. Yet whilst the law invites parties to rely on fault-based Facts, it does not require the court to adjudicate on responsibility in that way – not least because it will very often be impossible to allocate blame accurately in this context. Yet respondents on the receiving end of fault-based petitions inevitably feel cast as the ‘guilty’ party. The study found no evidence that fault prevents or slows down the decision to divorce and some evidence that it may shorten the time from break up to filing. We also found, as previously, that producing evidence of fault can create or exacerbate unnecessary conflict with damaging consequences for children and contrary to the thrust of family law policy. 10 The current divorce law is now nearly 50 years old. Its apparent rationale and operation are at odds with a modern, transparent, problem-solving family justice system that seeks to minimise the consequences of relationship breakdown for both adults and children. The need for law reform to finally remove fault The study shows that we already have something tantamount to immediate unilateral divorce ‘on demand’, but masked by an often painful, and sometimes destructive, legal ritual with no obvious benefits for the parties or the state. A clearer and more honest approach, that would also be fairer, more child-centred and cost-effective, would be to reform the law to remove fault entirely. We propose a notification system where divorce would be available if one or both parties register that the marriage has broken down irretrievably and that intention is confirmed by one or both parties after a minimum period of six months.Nuffield Foundatio

Understanding the lives of separating and separated families in the UK: what evidence do we need

This is the final version of the report. Available from the publisher via the link in this record.Final reportThis study was designed to address three broad questions: - What are the evidence and data needs around family separation in the UK? - How far are these needs met by administrative, survey and other research data that currently exist or are in the process of being developed? - What additional data are required, and how would these best be collected?Nuffield Foundatio

Understanding innovators' experiences of barriers and facilitators in implementation and diffusion of healthcare service innovations: A qualitative study

This article is made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund - Copyright @ 2011 Barnett et al.Background: Healthcare service innovations are considered to play a pivotal role in improving organisational efficiency and responding effectively to healthcare needs. Nevertheless, healthcare organisations encounter major difficulties in sustaining and diffusing innovations, especially those which concern the organisation and delivery of healthcare services. The purpose of the present study was to explore how healthcare innovators of process-based initiatives perceived and made sense of factors that either facilitated or obstructed the innovation implementation and diffusion. Methods: A qualitative study was designed. Fifteen primary and secondary healthcare organisations in the UK, which had received health service awards for successfully generating and implementing service innovations, were studied. In-depth, semi structured interviews were conducted with the organisational representatives who conceived and led the development process. The data were recorded, transcribed and thematically analysed. Results: Four main themes were identified in the analysis of the data: the role of evidence, the function of inter-organisational partnerships, the influence of human-based resources, and the impact of contextual factors. "Hard" evidence operated as a proof of effectiveness, a means of dissemination and a pre-requisite for the initiation of innovation. Inter-organisational partnerships and people-based resources, such as champions, were considered an integral part of the process of developing, establishing and diffusing the innovations. Finally, contextual influences, both intra-organisational and extra-organisational were seen as critical in either impeding or facilitating innovators' efforts. Conclusions: A range of factors of different combinations and co-occurrence were pointed out by the innovators as they were reflecting on their experiences of implementing, stabilising and diffusing novel service initiatives. Even though the innovations studied were of various contents and originated from diverse organisational contexts, innovators' accounts converged to the significant role of the evidential base of success, the inter-personal and inter-organisational networks, and the inner and outer context. The innovators, operating themselves as important champions and being often willing to lead constructive efforts of implementation to different contexts, can contribute to the promulgation and spread of the novelties significantly.This research was supported financially by the Multidisciplinary Assessment of Technology Centre for Healthcare (MATCH)

Autonomic pain responses during sleep: a study of heart rate variability

The autonomic nervous system (ANS) reacts to nociceptive stimulation during sleep, but whether this reaction is contingent to cortical arousal, and whether one of the autonomic arms (sympathetic/parasympathetic) predominates over the other remains unknown. We assessed ANS reactivity to nociceptive stimulation during all sleep stages through heart rate variability, and correlated the results with the presence of cortical arousal measured in concomitant 32-channel EEG. Fourteen healthy volunteers underwent whole-night polysomnography during which nociceptive laser stimuli were applied over the hand. RR intervals (RR) and spectral analysis by wavelet transform were performed to assess parasympathetic (HF(WV)) and sympathetic (LF(WV) and LF(WV)/HF(WV) ratio) reactivity. During all sleep stages, RR significantly decreased in reaction to nociceptive stimulations, reaching a level similar to that of wakefulness, at the 3rd beat post-stimulus and returning to baseline after seven beats. This RR decrease was associated with an increase in sympathetic LF(WV) and LF(WV)/HF(WV) ratio without any parasympathetic HF(WV) change. Albeit RR decrease existed even in the absence of arousals, it was significantly higher when an arousal followed the noxious stimulus. These results suggest that the sympathetic-dependent cardiac activation induced by nociceptive stimuli is modulated by a sleep dependent phenomenon related to cortical activation and not by sleep itself, since it reaches a same intensity whatever the state of vigilance

Observational study to estimate the changes in the effectiveness of bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination with time since vaccination for preventing tuberculosis in the UK.

Until recently, evidence that protection from the bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination lasted beyond 10 years was limited. In the past few years, studies in Brazil and the USA (in Native Americans) have suggested that protection from BCG vaccination against tuberculosis (TB) in childhood can last for several decades. The UK's universal school-age BCG vaccination programme was stopped in 2005 and the programme of selective vaccination of high-risk (usually ethnic minority) infants was enhanced. To assess the duration of protection of infant and school-age BCG vaccination against TB in the UK. Two case-control studies of the duration of protection of BCG vaccination were conducted, the first on minority ethnic groups who were eligible for infant BCG vaccination 0-19 years earlier and the second on white subjects eligible for school-age BCG vaccination 10-29 years earlier. TB cases were selected from notifications to the UK national Enhanced Tuberculosis Surveillance system from 2003 to 2012. Population-based control subjects, frequency matched for age, were recruited. BCG vaccination status was established from BCG records, scar reading and BCG history. Information on potential confounders was collected using computer-assisted interviews. Vaccine effectiveness was estimated as a function of time since vaccination, using a case-cohort analysis based on Cox regression. In the infant BCG study, vaccination status was determined using vaccination records as recall was poor and concordance between records and scar reading was limited. A protective effect was seen up to 10 years following infant vaccination [< 5 years since vaccination: vaccine effectiveness (VE) 66%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 17% to 86%; 5-10 years since vaccination: VE 75%, 95% CI 43% to 89%], but there was weak evidence of an effect 10-15 years after vaccination (VE 36%, 95% CI negative to 77%; p = 0.396). The analyses of the protective effect of infant BCG vaccination were adjusted for confounders, including birth cohort and ethnicity. For school-aged BCG vaccination, VE was 51% (95% CI 21% to 69%) 10-15 years after vaccination and 57% (95% CI 33% to 72%) 15-20 years after vaccination, beyond which time protection appeared to wane. Ascertainment of vaccination status was based on self-reported history and scar reading. The difficulty in examining vaccination sites in older women in the high-risk minority ethnic study population and the sparsity of vaccine record data in the later time periods precluded robust assessment of protection from infant BCG vaccination > 10 years after vaccination. Infant BCG vaccination in a population at high risk for TB was shown to provide protection for at least 10 years, whereas in the white population school-age vaccination was shown to provide protection for at least 20 years. This evidence may inform TB vaccination programmes (e.g. the timing of administration of improved TB vaccines, if they become available) and cost-effectiveness studies. Methods to deal with missing record data in the infant study could be explored, including the use of scar reading. The National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme. During the conduct of the study, Jonathan Sterne, Ibrahim Abubakar and Laura C Rodrigues received other funding from NIHR; Ibrahim Abubakar and Laura C Rodrigues have also received funding from the Medical Research Council. Punam Mangtani received funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council

Action research and democracy

This contribution explores the relationship between research and learning democracy. Action research is seen as being compatible with the orientation of educational and social work research towards social justice and democracy. Nevertheless, the history of action research is characterized by a tension between democracy and social engineering. In the social-engineering approach, action research is conceptualized as a process of innovation aimed at a specific Bildungsideal. In a democratic approach action research is seen as research based on cooperation between research and practice. However, the notion of democratic action research as opposed to social engineering action research needs to be theorized. So called democratic action research involving the implementation by the researcher of democracy as a model and as a preset goal, reduces cooperation and participation into instruments to reach this goal, and becomes a type of social engineering in itself. We argue that the relationship between action research and democracy is in the acknowledgment of the political dimension of participation: ‘a democratic relationship in which both sides exercise power and shared control over decision-making as well as interpretation’. This implies an open research design and methodology able to understand democracy as a learning process and an ongoing experiment

AfrOBIS: a marine biogeographic information system for sub-Saharan Africa

AfrOBIS is one of 11 global nodes of the Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS), a freely accessible network of databases collating marine data in support of the Census of Marine Life. Versatile graphic products, provided by OBIS, can be used to display the data. To date, AfrOBIS has loaded about3.2 million records of more than 23 000 species located mainly in the seas around southern Africa. This forms part of the 13.2 million records of more than 80 000 species currently stored in OBIS. Scouting for South African data has been successful, whereas locating records in other African countries has been much less so

The accuracy and clinical utility of spectral CT bone density measurement in the lumbar spine of unenhanced images: a narrative review

Objectives: To review and evaluate available literature on spectral computed tomography (SCT) bone mineral density (BMD) measurement in adult thoracolumbar vertebrae of unenhanced images compared to quantitative computed tomography (QCT), to understand its current clinical utility.Key findings: Keyword searches in four databases identified four cross-sectional studies which acquired an SCT BMD measurement in thoracolumbar vertebrae and compared this respectively to QCT, which were then critically appraised using the AXIS tool for cross-sectional studies. 862 vertebrae were measured between T10-S1 in 368 patients. Three studies demonstrated a statistically significant correlation between SCT and QCT for the measurement of Hydroxyapatite (HAP) and calcium (r = 0.86–0.96). One study demonstrated a diagnostic accuracy of 96% using a receiver operating curve. Conclusions: SCT measurements of HAP and calcium in the lumbar vertebrae are comparable to QCT for patients with no additional pathology present. However, further research is required to evaluate diagnostic accuracy before clinical application.Implications for practice: SCT BMD measurement has the potential to be developed as a screening tool for osteoporosis within the fracture liaison service (FLS). This could aid in the identification of patients with osteoporosis and address the current treatment gap. Nonetheless, many factors must be considered for this application including staff training, radiation protection and patient engagement with the screening programme.</p

Standard Neutrino Spectrum from B-8 Decay

We present a systematic evaluation of the shape of the neutrino energy spectrum produced by beta-decay of $^8$B. We place special emphasis on determining the range of uncertainties permitted by existing laboratory data and theoretical ingredients (such as forbidden and radiative corrections). We review and compare the available experimental data on the $^8$B$(\beta^+){}^8$Be$(2\alpha)$ decay chain. We analyze the theoretical and experimental uncertainties quantitatively. We give a numerical representation of the best-fit (standard-model) neutrino spectrum, as well as two extreme deviations from the standard spectrum that represent the total (experimental and theoretical) effective $\pm3\sigma$ deviations. Solar neutrino experiments that are currently being developed will be able to measure the shape of the $^8$B neutrino spectrum above about 5 MeV. An observed distortion of the $^8$B solar neutrino spectrum outside the range given in the present work could be considered as evidence, at an effective significance level greater than three standard deviations, for physics beyond the standard electroweak model. We use the most recent available experimental data on the Gamow--Teller strengths in the $A=37$ system to calculate the $^8$B neutrino absorption cross section on chlorine: $\sigma_{\rm Cl}=(1.14\pm0.11)\times10^{-42}$~cm$^2$ ($\pm3\sigma$ errors). The chlorine cross section is also given as a function of the neutrino energy. The $^8$B neutrino absorption cross section in gallium is $\sigma_{\rm Ga}=(2.46^{+2.1}_{-1.1})\times10^{-42}$ cm$^2$ ($\pm3\sigma$ errors).Comment: Revised version, to appear in Phys. Rev.