Posts
What About Henry? An interesting discussion about how we deal with domestic abuse
This week The Transparency Project were invited to attend an event at Portcullis House hosted by Only Dads and Only Mums, with Jess Phillips MP. Our Lucy Reed went along... The format was a series of short panel presentations with brief points made after each - the...
The Telegraph and Daily Mail seem to just copy The Sun’s family law reporting mistakes
“LEGAL AID FURY Woman fed boy, 3, poison while plotting to take him to see ISIS jihadi father in Syria but was given public cash in battle to keep any alleged terror connections secret: Taxpayer-funded legal aid went on lawyers representing her as she tried to stop...
A tottering edifice indeed…
Christopher Booker, writing in the Sunday Telegraph last week, is critical of former District Judge Crichton (a retired family court Judge), for giving a selective account of the work of family courts. You can read the article here (you may have to pay) : "Removing...
Enemies of Transparency: Newspaper Stories & The Court of Protection
This is a guest post written by Barbara Rich. Barbara is a barrister and mediator specialising in inheritance and trusts and Court of Protection property and affairs cases. She tweets as @BarbaraRich_law. The Daily Mail’s 4 November 2016 front page describing the...
Is it appropriate to admit covert recordings of professionals or others within family proceedings?
Earlier in 2016, The Transparency Project, along with the Association of Lawyers for Children and others, were invited by His Honour Judge Bellamy (Designated Family Judge for Leicester) to make written submissions to the Family Court regarding the question of covert...
Access to information should not be an after-thought in plans for ‘transforming our justice system’
On 15th September 2016 the Ministry of Justice opened its consultation into "Transforming Our Justice System". The 36 page document, accompanied by a statement by the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice and the Senior President of Tribunals, sets out a "vision"...
A “Gay parents row” – OR who can adopt and when?
There has been coverage in The Times and The Telegraph this week about a husband and wife who wish to adopt their foster children but have been told they can't, because of their views about gay adoption. We thought it would be useful to give a brief explanation...
You can’t handle (51% of) the Truth!
This post is comment by Sarah Phillimore and does not represent the views of the Transparency Project generally A few weeks back I opined that In the matter of X (a child) (No 3) [2016] EWHC 2755 (Fam) was going to be the defining case of the last 25 years of family...
The X Files (Or: the Truth is Out There — but can a civil court rehearing really find it?)
In a judgment handed down today, Re X (No 3) [2016] EWHC 2755 (Fam) the President of the Family Division, Sir James Munby, decided to continue, despite the withdrawal of the birth parents concerned, a full re-hearing of the original allegations made in care...
High Court appeals to be heard in open court?
The press reported this week that an appeal involving Essex County Council was the first to be routed through the High Court, under new rules that have diverted some appeals from the Court of Appeal to High Court judges as a result of the Court of Appeal having an...