Posts
Legal Bloggers attending family court hearings
We've written before about cases where we wished we'd been present alongside journalists to report on a case, to see if we saw the same things, or selected the same information to report. And we've regularly challenged, corrected or explained not very good reporting...
Bloomin’ eck! Divorcing fraudster named and shamed but the papers ignore it
Search for 'bloom divorce' on google and all you get is items about Orlando Bloom's 'painful separation from his wife Miranda Kerr'. This post is about a different and altogether less attractive Mr Bloom (no, not the one off CBeebies either). THIS Mr Bloom is a...
Worboys : Parole Board transparency and parallels with family courts
This week, the Judicial Reviews of the Parole Board's decision to release serial sex offender John Worboys were successful. Apart from quashing the decision and sending it back to be reconsidered on better evidence, the High Court also struck down that bit of the...
Family Court Reporting Watch Round Up
Correcting, clarifying or commenting on media reports of family court cases Explaining or commenting on published judgments of family court cases Highlighting other transparency news MEDIA (MIS)REPORTS OF FAMILY COURT CASES Daily Mail - We questioned whether Justices...
When Expert Evidence Goes Wrong – the lessons to be learned
C (interim judgment on expert evidence) [2018] EWFC B9 (24 January 2018) This is an 'ordinary' family judgment but noteworthy because it shows: The considerable dangers of expert evidence which is not based on clear facts or reliable clinical practice; How criticism...
Why the Court of Protection gave permission for blood samples to be taken in Skripal poisoning case
The alleged poisoning of Sergei Skripal, a former Russian spy now living in England, and his daughter Yulia, in Salisbury earlier this month has been prominently reported in the news. Investigations into the nature of the military-grade nerve agent allegedly used on...
Q : What happens when you break an order made by the family court? A : Prison, that’s what
There have been a couple of examples of family court judges sending people to prison for deliberately ignoring their orders. Although it doesn’t happen very often, as judges prefer to find another way to deal with matters where possible, family judges can and do send...
Judge tells lawyers off for talking over one another in court
In a judgment published on the BAILII website this week, a High Court Judge, Mr Justice MacDonald has criticized barristers involved in a case concerning the contact a 13 year old girl should have with her father, for the way they constantly interrupted one...
Family Court Reporting Watch Roundup
Correcting, clarifying or commenting on media reports of family court cases Explaining or commenting on published judgments of family court cases Highlighting other transparency news MEDIA (MIS)REPORTS OF FAMILY COURT CASES The Oxford Mail - We've barely commented on...
Press regulation: the end of the road for Leveson reforms
On 1 March 2018 the government announced that it would not be proceeding with the second stage of the Leveson Inquiry, and would seek to repeal section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013. This post explains the background to that decision and assesses where that...