Posts
Another Re W – a successful appeal against refusal for leave to oppose an adoption
In this unusual case, Re W (A child: leave to oppose adoption) [2020] EWCA (Civ) 16, the Court of Appeal has given birth parents leave to oppose an adoption order being made. The child is nearly three years old and has been living with his prospective adopters since...
“Brain dead” baby – Court of Appeal confirms High Court’s decision to allow “dignity in death”
We reported earlier on the High Court’s decision 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. Now the Court of Appeal have given their...
A day in the life of a district judge
I made an impromptu visit to the family court in Oxford last week, and was able to sit in on most of the hearings in a District Judge's list. I was permitted to report the details of each of the hearings I attended, subject to preserving the anonymity of the families....
Lawyers highlight poor practice in private law cases and the impact on families
A new research report paints a very alarming picture of the way in which some family courts are dealing with cases where there is domestic abuse, ignoring the procedures put in place by court rules. Academics at the University of Sussex conducted a survey of 88...
Re W – a successful appeal against a placement and care order (and a costs order against the LA)
This is a post by Emily Boardman. Emily is a founding partner at Boardman, Hawkins & Osborne LLP – family lawyers and mediators based in Oxfordshire. She has a national practice in adoption proceedings, appeals and representing parents in care proceedings. Emily...
The President’s Call For Evidence – First Thoughts
It was last May, not long after he had dealt with journalist and TP member Louise Tickle's successful appeal against a wrongly imposed reporting restriction order, that the President of the Family Division announced he would be holding a 'Transparency Review'. This...
‘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...