Posts
Open justice and access to law: why BAILII deserves our support
In a recent speech, Lord Neuberger, the President of the Supreme Court, spoke of the importance of open justice. “In its most basic form,” he said, “it means that court hearings take place in public and judges’ decisions are available to the public.” As Julie D has...
Ashya King
[Updated 9 Sept 2014] There has been a lot of media attention in respect of the case of Ashya King in the last few days. This post links to relevant information and sets out some basic legal facts (as far as they are known). Ashya is a 5 year old boy who has been...
Adoption Targets & Bonuses
I couldn't really nail this in my "follow the money" pieces (part 2 here), but it is important. I was thinking that a starting point might be an FOI request to the Department for Education, and had in mind these questions 1. Has the UK Government had a policy,...
Why is the Family Court an exception to the principle of open justice? A guide in plain English
The starting point for court proceedings is traditionally that they must all be open to the public because justice must be seen to be done. Exceptions were recognised in an early 20th century case as being, for example, where certain children and people with mental...
Follow the money Part Two
Follow the Money Part Two (please read Part One first, which sets out the context and purpose) Social workers The social worker is the person at the sharp end. On any individual case, they have to make the judgment call as to whether the situation can work at...
Follow the money Part One
During the investigation of the Watergate scandal by Woodward and Bernstein, their source “Deep Throat” (if you aren’t familiar with this story, don’t google that phrase at work) told them to “Follow the money” It is an accusation often made about child protection...
Lord Neuberger on Transparency
Lord Neuberger, the President of the Supreme Court (the most senior Judge in the most senior court) recently gave a speech on Transparency. You can read the speech on the Supreme Court website here, and a summary on the Skills for Justice site here.
Statistics and emotional harm
Emotional harm is the type of harm to children which divides people most. It is not hard to understand why children shouldn’t be hit or beaten, why they should not be subjected to sexual harm, why parents heroin or alcohol misuse causes problems for children, or that...
Why I think we need greater transparency in family proceedings
Because we need to protect children from harm. But equally we need to protect families from arbitrary interference by the state. Leaving a child to suffer harm in an abusive family is a tragedy. So too is taking a child away for no good reason. There is often tension...
Ground Rules
This site is a work in progress. Here's how we'll operate it. Comments will be moderated. Respectful discussion only. Ideas welcome. This is a forum for creative thinking - people may change their views following discussion or over time. Please don't post comments...