Posts
Local authority support services in Wales and private law contact disputes: Re R-E
This judgment, Re R-E (Contact: Support from local authorities in Wales) [2021] EWFC B95 from Pontypridd Family Court, published on BAILII a few days ago, has a number of unusual features. One is the outcome, that direct contact was found not to be in the child's...
Behind Closed Doors. Why We Break Up Families and How to Mend Them by Polly Curtis: A BOOK REVIEW
This is a live book review. I’m writing it as I read it. The book itself is a beautiful object. I don’t read enough books to know if this is typical for a Virago hardback, the latest thing in hardbacks, or just this book. This book feels pocket-sized. You’d...
Section 20 accommodation of children (‘voluntary accommodation / care’) Guidance Note
This document explains section 20 of the Children Act 1989 and the equivalent piece of law in Wales (s76 Social Services & Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014), sometimes called 'voluntary care' or 'voluntary accommodation'. Version 4 of this guidance note (January 2022)...
Two new Griffiths judgments – what are they about?
Last week saw publication of two new judgments relating to the child of former MP, Andrew Griffiths, and current MP, Kate Griffiths. Here we summarise what those judgments are about and what they do (or don't) tell us about matters of principle that might affect...
Family Court Reporting Watch Roundup
Welcome to this month's Roundup, where we correct, clarify and comment on media reports of family court cases, explain and comment on published family court judgments and highlight other transparency news MEDIA COVERAGE OF FAMILY COURT MATTERS The Independent, Daily...
Landmark solutions to difficult cases
At every level, judges of the family court have to resolve sometimes unimaginable situations - acts in the "never ending carnival of human misery." The intensity of such cases is nearly always increased where the children involved are very unwell, and the patchwork of...
Behind Closed Doors – new book about the care system
Behind Closed Doors: Why we break up families - and how to mend them, is due for publication by Virago on February 3. Here the Author, Polly Curtis, answers our questions. What's your book, Behind Closed Doors, about? It’s about how the decision is made to remove a...
Justice system data in 2022: New year reflections and resolutions
What’s the collective noun for browser tabs? I ended my year with a lot – a flock? A bevy? – open, mainly relating to one of my main preoccupations, justice system data (i.e. information generated by the process of justice). I’m somewhat nervously returning to them...
Remote hearings: the HMCTS evaluation
Last month HM Courts and Tribunals Service published their own research into user experiences of remote hearings: Evaluation of remote hearings during the COVID 19 pandemic. The report analyses responses to surveys conducted between May and October 2020 with public...
A curious headline: “Senior judges voice alarm after private deal in oligarch divorce”
We saw this headline in The Times just after Christmas. What on earth is it all about? We've read and re-read it and to be frank, we're still not completely sure. The 'oligarch divorce' in question is that of Farkhad Akhmedov and his ex wife Tatiana Akhmedova, which...