Posts
Can a violent husband block a divorce?
This week has seen the headline : Mum whose violent husband was jailed can't get a divorce - because he says no, appear in the Daily Mirror. The same story is covered under the slightly less bold headline in the Metro : Abusive husband still controlling wife he put in...
Giving birth and the Court of Protection
Guys and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust v X [2019] EWCOP 35 This is a guest post from Victoria Butler Cole QC (@TorButlerCole). Every year, there are a handful of applications to the Court of Protection to authorise delivery a baby by caesarean section against the...
Transparency Project team shortlisted for family law commentator of the year
We are thrilled to announce that we have been shortlisted for the Lexis Nexis 'Family Law Commentator Of The Year' award. The award is for 'the commentator who the family law community consider to have provided the most useful commentary to help them in their...
A Byline Festival conversation about Truth, Trust and Transparency in the Courts
From L to R: Sophie Walker, Mark Hanna, Brian Cathcart, Lucy Reed and Adam Wagner “A riot of independent journalism and free speech” is how the Byline Festival describes itself. It’s a varied mix of arts, literature, journalism and music, but running through it all is...
Change of residence – do we listen to children?
'Change of residence' in the context of a child arrangements order (a reform that was supposed to get rid of the 'win-lose' concept of residence and contact before 2014) is quite a cold, technical term to describe a child having to move from one household to another....
The danger of crusades
In the last few months, the Daily Express has been running a 'Crusade' (their label) with the banner 'End This Injustice'. Under this banner they have published a number of accounts from mothers who tell of abuse at the hands of the fathers of their children, and a...
An eventful Spring
This blog post originally appeared as an article in the July issue of Family Law [2019] Fam Law 825. It can be difficult writing a monthly column for a print publication when things are moving apace in the real world will it still hold currency when the edition...
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...