Posts
British teenager becomes a ward of court to escape from Somalia
We spotted this dramatic court judgment published last week although, surprisingly, we’ve not seen any media coverage – Re M (Nationality Based Jurisdiction) [2025] EWHC 1821 (Fam). There are a few similarities with the widely publicised case in July of the 14 year...
A happy ending in Cardiff Family Court
During August, I attended a final hearing in a case I’d written about in May, when I’d said: The circumstances in this case may sound all too familiar to some readers. A child aged ten was terrified of his mother’s violent male partner and is now living with his...
Children left with harmful parents because of lack of foster carers
A local authority (LA) applied for care orders for six children in March 2025. At the case management hearing (CMH) I attended in April, and wrote on here: ‘Completing care proceedings in less that 26 weeks’, a strict timetable was set out by the judge to ensure...
Sending a mother to prison for contempt of court
This post by Celia Kitzinger on the Open Justice Court of Protection Project site, 'Sentencing in contempt proceedings', is actually a Family Court case. Celia explains why the hearing caught her eye in the lists, how she observed it, and why she has written about it...
Family Court Reporting Watch Roundup: July 2025
Welcome to the Roundup, where we correct, clarify and comment on media reports of family law, explain and comment on published family court judgments, and highlight other transparency news. MEDIA COVERAGE OF FAMILY LAW, TRANSPARENCY etc The BBC reported that 'I...
14 year old boy taken to Ghana – Appeal judgment
In June, the Court of Appeal allowed the appeal by a 14 year old boy against a High Court decision that his parents had lawfully taken him from his home in the UK to Ghana, where he’d been left at a boarding school. You can read Sanchia Berg’s story here. We included...
Legal blogging – placement order for adoption of a baby
I wrote in April about an earlier hearing I’d attended in this case at Cardiff Family Court before District Judge Saunders. This had originally seemed a sad but straightforward case of an abandoned baby for whom adoption would be the right outcome. Care...
A failed reunification plan
A 13 year old boy was refusing to obey High Court orders that he spend time with his mother following his parents’ separation. After three years of failed attempts to persuade him to see her, the court asked the Tipstaff’s office to enforce an order that he be...
Family Court Reporting Watch Roundup: June 2025
Welcome to the Roundup, where we correct, clarify and comment on media reports of family law, explain and comment on published family court judgments, and highlight other transparency news. MEDIA COVERAGE OF FAMILY LAW, TRANSPARENCY etc The Times (£) reported...
‘If I had to live with mum I’d jump out of the window’ – Why two boys ended up living with their dad
On the day I saw them trot across the court waiting room on the way back from meeting the judge, Jamie and Andrew* were 10 and 14. I didn’t know that at the time, to me they looked smaller, younger. But the visit seemed to have gone well, as best I could tell from...