Posts
The recent debate about opening up the Family Courts
Beyond all ideas of right and wrong there is a field - I will meet you there. Rumi On 11th November 2014 the Family Justice Council held its 8th Annual Debate and panel discussion at Westminster Central Hall. The topic for discussion was transparency. The...
Family proceedings: the ‘open court principle’
Amongst family judges it has become quite the rage to open up your court and welcome in – well, probably a few lonely souls and a couple of local journalists, limited to those cases where a parent has been sounding off on Facebook or trying to take a child from...
Family Justice Council Debate : Transparency in family proceedings – Is the Family Court open for business
On 11th November the Family Justice Council held its annual debate, on the topic of transparency in family proceedings. It was a well attended and wide ranging debate, with speakers and attendees not just comprising judges and family lawyers but also journalists,...
Multi Disciplinary Conference 1st June 2015 – Is the Child Protection System Fit for Purpose?
[Update 15/5/15 : We've now put all the conference material together on our events page here and we've stopped updating this post. The most up to date programme is on our events page.] Policing Parents? Protecting Children? Promoting Adoption? Do we get the child...
Research on the information needs of litigants in person
I thought it might useful to extract a few relevant points from the readable but lengthy new report on research into the experiences and needs of litigants in person in private law family court cases. Litigants in person in private family law cases - Liz Trinder,...
The Family Justice Council debate on transparency
Two members of the Transparency Project, Lucy Reed and Julie Doughty, attended the Family Justice Council annual debate on ‘Transparency in family proceedings’ in London last night. The speakers ‘for’ openness were Sir Roderick Newton, the judge in the Pacchieri care...
Poppi Worthington
Curious news reports regarding the cause of death of a baby girl in Cumbria, began circulating some weeks ago. The BBC reported that the coroner saying that "there had been a two-week Family Court hearing into the death, which found the cause of death could not be...
Response to Transparency Consultation
We've produced a response to the President of the Family Division's consultation about transparency. If you'd like to read it you can download it here. The consultation can be read here.
Family Justice Council Transparency Debate
The Family Justice Council is holding its 8th Annual Debate and panel discussion at Central Hall, Westminster, Storey’s Gate, London SW1H 9NH between 5.30pm and 7.30pm on Tuesday 11th November 2014. The topic for this year’s debate is transparency. The motion for...
The Children Act – a novel approach
What is it like being a judge? More particularly, what is it like being a High Court judge with the responsibility of deciding matters of life and death? Though cast as a novel, with a story to engage the reader, this is what The Children Act is really about. Its...