Posts
Religious and cultural identity in foster care
On 28th August 2017 The Times published a story about a white Christian child 'forced' into a (presumably) brown skinned Muslim family The prominent placement of this report on the front page with its eerie image of the little white girl being led away by a shadowy...
What we’re thinking: the Family Court Adviser’s article
An anonymous family court adviser (CAFCASS Officer) wrote an article for the Guardian this week: What I’m really thinking: the family court adviser. The strapline reads "Both parents are usually adamant that the other is a complete nightmare". That is a familiarly...
Statistics and headlines in legal news: controlling the surges
A few months ago, Paul Magrath wrote a post on the figures behind the Daily Telegraph's headline “financial abuse rockets as more powers of attorney challenged by courts”, showing that the rocket turned out to be a very small damp squib. The subject of that post came...
Some news on transparency
The President of the Family Division speaks formally and informally at many events and conferences up and down the country on a regular basis. Not all such speeches are published. This post is drawn from remarks of The President that have not been published, but The...
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 Financial Times - We...
The Everlasting Discussion of Lasting Powers of Attorney
An interview with recently-retired senior judge of the Court of Protection, Denzil Lush, on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday 15 August 2017, and associated coverage on the BBC News website and other mainstream media, has led to a flurry of comment and...
Family Court judge accused of misfeasance in public office by social worker he criticised
This is a sad and unsatisfactory story. In November last year, the Court of Appeal allowed an appeal brought by an unnamed social worker and an unnamed police officer against findings of an unnamed judge against them. The unusual feature of the case was that neither...
Lasting Powers of Attorney in the news – a more detailed explanation
This is a guest post from Victoria Butler Cole (@TorButlerCole), with contributions made by Heledd Wyn (@heledd_wyn) and regular Transparency Project contributor Barbara Rich (@barbararich_law). On 15 August 2017, the BBC ran a story about powers of attorney arising...
Rights: privacy, anonymity and freedom of expression on family cases
‘Open justice’ in family proceedings As a High Court judge (Mostyn J) has commented (in Appleton & Anor v News Group Newspapers Ltd & Anor [2015] EWHC 2689 (Fam), [2016] 2 FLR 1) rights to open justice in family proceedings are a mess; though – sad to...
Can parents publicly petition against care orders?
The answer to the question is yes, in very limited circumstances and where no harm can be shown as likely to the children. In Southend Borough Council v CO and DW [2017] EWHC 1949 (Fam), reported on BAILII last month, the High Court judge decided not to order parents...