Posts
‘The crisis in private law’ – by Sir James Munby
This is a talk by Sir James Munby (lately President of the Family Division of the High Court of Justice of England and Wales) at the Conference in Edinburgh on 10 February 2020 of Shared Parenting Scotland It is good of you to invite me to this important Conference....
Legal advice provided on online forums and social media (Part II)
This blog post continues to discuss the results of the research project led by Dr Tatiana Tkacukova and funded by the British Academy/Leverhulme Small Grant Scheme. Part I of the blog focused on the context of the study, the data collection process and the...
Government responds to Cairncross – and it has something to say on court reporting
Just under a year ago Dame Frances Cairncross published her recommendations for ‘a sustainable future for journalism’ in the UK. Her Government-commissioned report identified court reporting as an area of concern, citing its decline (based on Brian...
‘Mediation’: A BBC Radio 4 legal drama about an inheritance dispute
This is a first post from new writer Elizabeth Wark. Elizabeth is a barrister at 3 Doctor Johnston’s Buildings where she specialises in civil and family law. Before training as a barrister, she was a registered nurse in Australia and completed a training programme in...
Life Chances
This is a guest post by Jack Harrison. Jack is a practising barrister at 18 St. John Street in Manchester and specialises in child law. He tweets as @JackHarrison. Clara Glynn’s excellent drama, Life Chances, was broadcast on BBC Radio Four on 13 January as part of...
Family Court Reporting Watch Roundup
Welcome to the latest 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 and others...
“Brain dead” baby – how the court decides doctors can withdraw life support
In a recent case the court had to consider whether to allow a hospital to withdraw mechanical ventilation from a baby, who had been starved of oxygen during his birth and had been declared brain-stem dead by doctors, despite the objections of the baby’s parents. Such...
Two judgments published and a couple of thoughts…
This week, two family court judgments were published that caught my eye, and sparked some discussion on twitter. This is just a brief post, not so much about the substance of the cases, but about the transparency aspects of them. The first was a judgment from District...
Contact, Ultra-Orthodox Judaism, and a Transgender Parent
This is a post by Emily Ward. Emily is a barrister based at Broadway House Chambers and is Deputy Head of the Family Team. She practises in all areas of family law, and has a particular interest in matrimonial finance and complex children cases. Emily...
“I hurt you because I love you” – what did TV’s Silent Witness get right and wrong about the treatment of domestic violence in the family courts?
No one is ever going to give the BBC TV show Silent Witness any prizes for being particularly factually accurate (what do you MEAN forensic pathologists don’t actually run around solving crimes!?). But who cares, right? It’s good, dramatic telly. That was all well and...