Posts
But What About the Children? Hearing the Voice of Children and Young People in court proceedings
On Monday 9th March 2017 I attended the Nagalro Autumn Conference which examined how children's voices are heard in court proceedings about them. Nagalro is the Professional Association for children's guardians, family court advisors and independent social workers and...
News Media Association fails in claim for judicial review of Press Recognition Panel
UPDATE 16 October: It is now reported that the NMA is lodging an appeal against the decision explained below. Details here. The High Court has rejected NMA’s claim for judicial review of the PRP’s decision to recognise IMPRESS as an independent, charter-compliant...
Eastenders – gritty real life drama or just running down social workers again?
Eastenders has recently run a story line about child protection. It hasn't gone down very well with social workers, with many newspapers covering the criticism of it along the lines set out in The Daily Mail here : Viewers have slammed an 'inaccurate'...
Fair, accurate and balanced – while being stopped from reporting the facts?
The Muslim foster care case first reported in The Times has prompted harsh criticism of the choices made by journalists when investigating complaints about poor social work practice. I make no comment on the writing, front page positioning, headline or the intentions...
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 Times - We commented...
The Court of Protection pilot – taking off before a flying test?
Questions about the Court of Protection transparency pilot Since January 2016, what are (under the original court rules) 'private' court hearings in the Court of Protection have been held in public under a so-called pilot scheme. 'Pilot', according to the OED, means...
More adoption or faster adoption?
"Delayed adoption is sure to damage a child", writes Clare Foges for The Times (paywall). "Attempting to place children with family members has stalled the process to an alarming extent" says the subheader. Here we go again. For children who cannot stay with their...
The muslim foster carer case again – what else has emerged?
We have covered the case originally headlined "Christian child forced into foster care" on a number of occasions. Our earlier posts can be found here : Religious and cultural identity in foster care, 28 Aug The most secretive court in all of Christendom…, 31 Aug...
Let’s be clear: “Right to die” and “Withdrawal of treatment” are not the same
The recent judgment of Mr Justice Peter Jackson that doctors and relatives do not always need to consult the court before withdrawing medical treatment from a terminally ill patient has been reported under headlines labelling it a “right to die” case. This is wrong...
Domestic Abuse – revised guidance issued – what does it say?
Children at risk of psychogical or physical abuse must not have contact with parent, judges told (sic) This was the headline in The Times that arose from the publication by the President of the Family Division of a revised Practice Direction 12J (PD12J). PD12J is the...