Posts
Mend law and save tragic kids?
It's a common mistake for journalists (and others) to refer to the Children's Act. Pedantic family lawyers bristle at this (it's the Children Act). But pedantry aside, this error is often a clue that something has been written without much input from a lawyer. And so...
An example of why headlines matter
We have seen a number of reports dealing with the sad story of a young father called Christopher Brown who took his own life by hanging. The reports follow a Coroner's Inquest into the death and most have similar copy which suggest they are based upon a single...
How to challenge findings of fact about children
The Court of Appeal has issued a judgment which clarifies when and how a parent who has been the subject of findings of fact can challenge those findings. This post summarises that new guidance. The full judgment is somewhat more complicated and can be read here...
How does the family court treat domestic abuse?: A ‘snapshot’ (continued – part 6)
This is a post from Sophie Smith-Holland, who tweets as @SSmithHolland. With thanks also to Alice Twaite. The question of how the family court deals with domestic abuse has had a huge amount of public and media attention recently. Concerns have been raised...
Can an adoption order be undone? – New case
Three years ago, I wrote a blog post, 'Can an adoption order be undone?' The answer was, only in very exceptional circumstances. A new High Court judgment, published last week, ZH v HS & others [2019] EWHC 2190, has not broken any new ground, but gives us a...
TP Launches information leaflet about legal blogging
Now that the legal blogging pilot has been extended in duration we thought it would be helpful to produce a short information leaflet that can be provided to people whose cases a legal blogger wants to observe. We hope that the information will give both litigants and...
What’s behind the headline: “Babies living with abusive parents under 24-hour CCTV, as Children’s Commissioner calls for review into the ‘Big Brother-style’ centres”?
[NB This post was updated on 20 August following response from Childrens' Commissioner's office - updates marked in square brackets] Last week, the Telegraph ran a piece from their social affairs correspondent Gabriella Swerling under this alarming headline (here)....
![F (A Child: Fact-Finding Appeal) [2019] EWCA Civ 1244: what’s the difference between an expert witness and a witness with expertise?](https://transparencyproject.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/ThomasHawkFlickr-1024x675.jpg)
F (A Child: Fact-Finding Appeal) [2019] EWCA Civ 1244: what’s the difference between an expert witness and a witness with expertise?
This is a post from Malvika Jaganmohan, who tweets as @MalvikaJaganmo1. I have already written for this blog on the shortage of expert witnesses in the family courts: my case summary of West Sussex County Council v B looks at the potential for miscarriages...
How does the family court treat domestic abuse?: A ‘snapshot’ (continued – part 5)
This is a post from Sophie Smith-Holland, who tweets as @SSmithHolland. With thanks to Alice Twaite. The question of how the Family Court deals with domestic abuse has had a huge amount of public and media attention recently. Concerns have been raised that the...
Supreme Court’s decision in asbestos case: guidance bearing on transparency in family courts
This post explains how a civil case about harm caused by asbestos can have implications for transparency relevant to family courts. Those interested in reading further can see the full judgment here Cape Intermediate Holdings Ltd v Dring (for and on behalf of...