Mother jailed for contempt could be named despite her young child being involved in anonymised family court proceedings. Why?

by Paul M | Aug 28, 2017 | Cases, Explanation, FCReportingWatch

To those accustomed to the idea that the family courts sit “behind closed doors” it may seem surprising for a judge to tell journalists they could name a woman who was being jailed for contempt of court, even though her three-year-old daughter was caught up in a...

The Everlasting Discussion of Lasting Powers of Attorney

by Barbara Rich | Aug 18, 2017 | Analysis, Comment, Court of Protection

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

by reporting watch team | Aug 18, 2017 | Analysis, Cases, Comment, Explanation, FCReportingWatch, Notorious

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...

Rights: privacy, anonymity and freedom of expression on family cases

by David Burrows | Aug 14, 2017 | Analysis, Cases, Comment, FCReportingWatch, Trends

‘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?

by Julie Doughty | Aug 13, 2017 | Cases, Comment, Explanation

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...

Public and private, the limits of transparency in Charlie Gard’s case – an update

by Barbara Rich | Aug 6, 2017 | Analysis, Cases, Comment, FCReportingWatch, Uncategorized

UPDATED 23 AUGUST 2017 to add developments since date of first posting under the sub-heading “The story becomes the story” Over the weekend of 22 and 23 July I wrote a post about the legal dispute between Great Ormond Street Hospital and the parents of 11...