Posts
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...
Behind Closed Doors – ‘Best Interests’ review
Here is a story, based on reality. Esti is a Charedi woman, a member of a small, tight-knit group at the very religious end of Judaism. The mother of three children, she is left by her husband Yossi. After separation he becomes less observant, letting the children...
Legal divorce and amicable ancillaries
Once, back when I was a full-time solicitor, I was telephoned for a divorce by a nice married couple. They were sitting at the kitchen table in one of their houses, having been separated for a number of years and each was happily living with a new partner. They were...
That judgment and what people have said about it…
This week saw the publication of a judgment by Ms Justice Russell, dealing with an appeal from His Honour Judge Tolson (JH v MF [2020] EWHC 86 (Fam)). It concerned serious problems with how the judge had handled allegations of rape and domestic abuse, in...
“No” means No. – JH v MF
This is a guest post by Alexandra Wilson, barrister at 5 St Andrews Hill Chambers. Warning: Please note that quotations from this judgment contain some descriptions of sexual assault and rape. This case, JH v MF [2020] EWHC 86 (Fam) was an appeal from the Central...