Posts
One small step at a time – from pilot to practice direction
Santa has brought a whole sackful of transparency related goodies for us to report on. The stocking fillers are The Transparency and Open Justice Board's call for views on its proposed Key Objectives (yes, this is the board announced some months ago, but judicial...
Updates on the operation of family courts – mainly about delay
Two important resources for family court users and professionals were published at the end of November: a webinar to ‘Refocus on the Public Law Outline (PLO)’ and a Family Court Annual Report that covers the year 2023-2024 - although it’s the first annual report on...
Allegations of alienating behaviour – important new guidance published
The Family Justice Council (FJC) has published guidance for Family Court judges and those working in the Family Justice System, on responding to allegations of alienating behaviour. The guidance is snappily entitled ‘Guidance on responding to a child’s...
ASSISTED DYING : WHAT ROLE FOR THE JUDGE? MORE THOUGHTS
This is a guest post from Sir James Munby, the former President of the Family Division of the High Court of England and Wales. It follows on from his previous pieces on this topic here and here. I make no apologies for returning again to the important question of the...
Family Court Reporting Watch Roundup
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.
Law reform and contempt of court – but where are family courts?
The Law Commission for England and Wales is consulting on proposals to reform the law of contempt of court. The consultation paper is more than 400 pages long but there's a handy summary on the web page. As most readers of this blog are only too well aware, a major...
Felix and Bella – two judgments following an injury to a baby
In this blog, I discuss Re Felix (fact finding and welfare) [2024] EWFC 302(B), a judgment of Her Honour Judge Vincent given in the Family Court sitting at Oxford on 8 February 2024. Felix is not the real name of the child at the centre of the case. The...
ASSISTED DYING : WHAT ROLE FOR THE JUDGE? Some further thoughts
This is a guest post from Sir James Munby, the former President of the Family Division of the High Court of England and Wales. It follows on from his previous piece on this topic here. In Assisted Dying : What Role for the Judge? published by the Transparency Project...
Committee nerds: assemble! (Family Procedure Rule Committee – more interesting than you might imagine)
Last week we attended the open meeting of the Family Procedure Rule Committee. It only happens once a year, and you'll be pleased to hear that we sat through the three hour long meeting so you didn't have to. From our perspective, the most important news is...
Another couple of small steps for Transparency
The (children) Reporting Pilot has been gradually expanding in its reach since January 2023. From 4 November it has not only covered 19 family courts across England and Wales (including those with the highest volume of cases), but reporters have been able finally to...