Posts
What is happening now on the case of terminally ill baby Charlie Gard?
We've written about Charlie's case before. This is an update, focusing mainly on recent developments, and recent press coverage and social media comment on the case, much of which has been misleading or poorly informed. The current situation There was a further...
Cooperation – Not Coercion in Foster to Adopt Placements
Our post on the FRG s20 report Cooperation or Coercion has prompted this guest post by John Simmonds, Director of Policy, Research and Development, CoramBAAF. We are expecting a guest post from Cathy Ashley at Family Rights Group in due course. The publication of the...
Talking about adoption and voluntary foster care under section 20
The launch of a Family Rights Group report ‘Co-operation or Coercion? Children coming into the care system under voluntary arrangements’, has triggered discussion about the use of "section 20", the piece of law that allows a child to be placed voluntarily into foster...
Supreme Court ruling on pension discrimination ensures equal treatment for same sex couples
Today’s Supreme Court decision in Walker v Innospec is a decision that will make a huge difference to married or civilly partnered gay and lesbian couples as they get older. It stops pension schemes from paying the surviving spouse of same-sex married or civilly...
Co-operation or Coercion? Children coming into the care system under voluntary arrangements
On July 10th the Family Rights Group launched their report on the use of section 20 accommodation in England (section 76 in Wales - I will refer to section 20 throughout this post). We heard from Caroline Lynch, the author of the report and the Principal Legal Adviser...
The limits of family court influence over adult disputes about children Part II
There are three sides to every story - your side, my side and the truth. The judgment in Gibbs v Gibbs [2017] EWHC 1700 (Fam) was handed down on 29th June 2017. It raises some immediate and interesting questions about how the family courts deal with evidence and what...
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 COURTS CASES Notably accurate (or otherwise...
GUIDE FOR FAMILIES ABOUT THE PUBLICATION OF FAMILY COURT JUDGMENTS
We're very pleased to publish a new guide to help parties caught up in the family justice system navigate the complicated issue of publishing judgments about private family matters. Our guide aims to help those dealing with cases involving privacy issues affecting...
Charlie Gard – What Did The European Court Actually Say and Why?
As is now well-known, Charlie Gard's case reached the end of its legal road last week, when the European Court of Human Rights decided that his case, and the case brought on his behalf by his parents, was inadmissible. At the same time, it decided that the interim...
Court of Protection announcement on holding its hearings in public
With many thanks to Barbara Rich for explaining what this all means for people involved in CoP cases. Context and background When the Court of Protection was established in its present form in 2007, the relevant court rules were written to cover two separate...