Posts
Making sense of parental alienation (Part 1)
It is now a year since The Guardian published startling claims that Cafcass (in England) were introducing new polices and practice guidance that would ‘crack down’ on parents who were guilty of manipulating their children through ‘parental alienation’. It soon...
Legal Blogging in Leeds
This morning, finding myself in Leeds and with a morning to spare I attended Leeds Family Court to try a spot of legal blogging in a court that I was unfamiliar with. I arrived by 9.15am (slightly later than planned thanks to the genius of google maps) and on...
Open court for appeals to family judges
A number of appeals from lesser judges in the family courts were transferred from being heard in the Court of Appeal to be heard by a judge – mostly High Court judges – in the Family Court (from 14 April 2014). Since then there has been sporadic debate as to whether...
The Sammy Woodhouse Story and Associated Campaigns – An Update
When we first posted on Tuesday about the Sammy Woodhouse story as it appeared in The Times (initially an anonymous story but swiftly identified as a story about Sammy and her son) the only real source of information was The Times itself (and a brief video posted on...
When should I apply for permission not to notify a father about a court case concerning his child?
Since the Sammy Woodhouse story first hit the news on Tuesday, the shape of the campaign she has launched for a change in the law relating to the rights of rapist fathers has gone through a number of changes. However, one early call was for guidance on the...
Robed in confusion – are wigs and gowns a symbol of open justice?
Would the wearing of wigs and gowns by barristers help send a message about open justice and transparency, as a senior judge in the Court of Protection has recently suggested?
I’d have written that article too
This is a blog post by Louise Tickle, journalist member of The Transparency Project. It relates to yesterday's Times article by Andrew Norfolk and the blog post from our chair Lucy Reed that we published yesterday in response, and in which we indicated that we might...
Did a council ‘act perversely’ to offer a jailed rapist a chance to see his victim’s child?
Today sees another Andrew Norfolk front page article in The Times about the wrongs committed in the Family Court and by social services. Sadly, just like last time, this is a sensationalised headline and article which ignores some important facts and legal...
Allegations of domestic abuse : are family courts working for children & families?
[Since this event we’ve slightly adjusted the guidance note in light of feedback and Version 2 can be found here] On the 22nd of November, The Transparency Project facilitated a panel discussion at Gresham College to ask the question : Allegations of domestic abuse -...
How do social workers approach domestic abuse?
This is a guest post by a social work manager who wishes to remain anonymous. It responds to an article by journalist and Transparency Project member Louise Tickle which appeared in the Guardian last week : Why do we separate the mother and child victims of domestic...