What’s the difference between an allocation and a transfer?

by David Burrows | Mar 1, 2018 | Explanation, Transparency News

AKA When is a single Family Court not a unified Family Court? This post is an attempt to explain a rather technical piece of guidance that was issued yesterday. It has been tricky trying to make it easy to get your head around, but we’ve done our best. Here goes… In...

Mum wins appeal about her child’s potential adoption but still has to pay her own legal costs – why?

by reporting watch team | Feb 25, 2018 | Cases, Comment, Explanation, FCReportingWatch

Proportionality and no order for costs in discharge order proceedings – Discharge order appeal The recent care case of M (A Child) [2018] EWCA Civ 240 (judgment: 20 February 2018) has achieved some notoriety because the mother, who won her appeal, still had to...

On Her Majesty’s Secret [Court] Service, or ‘Billionaire Putin crony loses right to secrecy in Britain’

by Paul M | Feb 25, 2018 | Analysis, Cases, Explanation, FCReportingWatch

“Secrecy in the court system is a growing concern. The press has a duty to uphold the principle of open justice and act as the eyes and ears of the public in the courts. The Times will resist any attempts to erode those principles.” So concludes a front page story in...

Fact Finding hearings and criminal law

by reporting watch team | Feb 18, 2018 | Cases, FCReportingWatch

This post is about a new judgment from the Court of Appeal called : R (Children) [2018] EWCA Civ 198 (16 February 2018). It is about what approach the family court should take in deciding the background facts to a case where a crime might have been committed, and how...

Family Court Reporting Watch Roundup

by reporting watch team | Feb 5, 2018 | Analysis, Cases, Comment, Explanation, FCReportingWatch, Transparency News

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 ITV This Morning and Daily Mail –...

Pianos and Prisons and Publication of Judgments

by reporting watch team | Feb 1, 2018 | Cases, FCReportingWatch

On 20 January the Daily Mail headline demanded : ‘Family court judge must explain why pianist jailed, says campaigner’ The campaigner was ex-MP John Hemming. The piano man was, we thought, a father whose protests on social media we had seen before, and in...