Posts
Family Court Transparency Review – An Update
Things have been quiet on this front since evidence was submitted in the spring of 2020. The week before last we became aware that the President and his panel were finally starting the oral evidence sessions, but they were due to start the very next day and they were...
PD12J & Scott Schedules – Rearranging a Spider’s web
This is a guest post from solicitor Jeremy Ford. Jeremy is a partner, mediator and children’s arbitrator at Cambridge Family Law Practice LLP. He tweets as @headofroy. It was originally published on LinkedIn. Sir Andrew McFarlane, the president of the family division,...
The Court of Appeal considers Domestic Abuse – Part 3
This is part 3 of a series of posts about the four conjoined appeals. You can read part 1 here and part 2 here. This post tackles the wider issues of principle that were considered in the course of the appeals, and at the end will provide some materials for further...
Taking Liberties: A simple guide to DOL.
This article is about Deprivation of Liberty involving children. To understand Deprivation of Liberty, I am afraid we have to start elsewhere completely… Secure Accommodation Secure accommodation is a special kind of placement for children who are in care, who...
The Court of Appeal considers Domestic Abuse – Part 2
This is part 2 of a series of posts about the conjoined appeals. You can read part 1 here. This post summarises the individual issues in the four appeals. Part 3 will cover the wider issues of principle and some of the themes that emerged in the course of the hearing,...
The Court of Appeal considers Domestic Abuse – Part 1
This week three judges in the Court of Appeal held a 3 day long appeal hearing all about domestic abuse cases. This series of posts provide a summary of what the hearing was about and how it went. The decision is expected in a few weeks time. The appeal was in fact...
Domestic Abuse Appeals – the warm up act?
Starting tomorrow, the Court of Appeal will consider four conjoined appeals where, it is said, the court's approach to the handling of allegations of domestic abuse was wrong. There is significant interest in those appeals, and various journalists and reporters will...
Pippa Knight – Harm Without Awareness
This is a guest post from Katie Gollop QC. Katie is a barrister at Serjeants’ Inn Chambers specialising in healthcare related law. She’s also a Deputy High Court Judge allocated to the Family Division and Court of Protection. Alert: this blog about Guy’s and St...
The Domestic Abuse Bill and family courts
As was noted in the ‘Harm report’ published in June last year and the Family Justice Council forum that was held on 14 December, there is mounting concern about the way family courts deal with allegations of domestic abuse that arise in some contact disputes. Starting...
Law, Justice & the Spaces Between
Transparency enthusiasts may be interested in this exciting series of free webinars running in January to March, investigating openness and press reporting of our courts and tribunals. The webinars have been organised by Transparency Project journalist Louise Tickle...