Posts
Media Litigation: a new approach
Earlier this year Mr Justice Warby was appointed to the newly created role of Judge in Charge of the Media and Communications List. We look at what this means in practice and how it will affect the future management of High Court media claims. The new list Speaking at...
“It blew up too soon for us” – CAFCASS explain their position on alienation
On 17 November the Guardian ran a front page article by Amelia Hill about a “groundbreaking” new trial that CAFCASS were running, to tackle parental alienation. It contained substantial quotes from CAFCASS’ Principal Social Worker, Sarah Parsons, so appeared to have...
Surrogacy arrangement breakdown: surrogate ordered to hand child over to intended parents
H (A Child : Surrogacy Breakdown) [2017] EWCA Civ 1798 Judge ordered surrogate mother to hand child over to intended same sex parents The case concerned two couples A and B, male same-sex partners, and C and D, a heterosexual married couple. C and D had 5...
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 Community Care - In the lead-up to...
Dodgy drug test results – what should I do?
On 21 November the Ministry of Justice and Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal’s Service issued advice for those concerned about potentially unreliable forensic toxicology (drug) tests in some family cases. The advice also relates to criminal trials, but this post looks...
Who protects the social workers?
When a child dies, it is often social workers whose names pop up in the press, who are vilified and blamed. Following the recent media attention around the death of adopted Elsie Scully-Hicks (Shayla), this has become a topic of discussion again within the social work...
The court’s role in sanctioning medical treatment and the withdrawal of medical treatment of children: “Parental autonomy and a child’s best interests: Should the courts have the final say?”
This was the vexed question posed at the 11th Family Justice Council Annual Debate last night. (The discussion was chaired by the Right Honourable Sir James Munby, President of the Family Division of the High Court and Chairman of the Family Justice Council). Anyone...
Elsie Scully-Hicks – Family Court Judgment Released
Mr Justice Moor has today published his judgment about the death of Elsie (known to her biological family as Shayla). You can read the judgment here: The County Council of the City and County of Cardiff -v- Matthew Scully-Hicks and Others. The judgment was written in...
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 Guardian - Reported new draft guidelines...
Transparency Project News: Legal bloggers – a level playing field?
In August THAT Muslim foster carer story hit the press ('Christian child forced into foster care', The Times, 28 August 2017). The Times journalist Andrew Norfolk, lauded for his expose of the Rotherham child sexual abuse scandal, was the subject of trenchant...