The Adoption and Children (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020, and a little bit of history.

by Jack Harrison | May 3, 2020 | FCReportingWatch, Transparency News

Reflecting on where you have been is a useful exercise. I don’t mean that in the LinkedIn sense: I am not about to start posting pictures of hikers atop a mountain with the caption ‘INSPIRATION’, nor am I about to share how I woke up at 4am to drink a green tea carrot...

UPDATE: Z (A Child: committal proceeding) – a reminder that no one can be committed to prison without being named publicly

by Malvika Jaganmohan | May 3, 2020 | Cases, FCReportingWatch, Transparency News

I wrote a piece for the blog back in March 2020 about the case of Z (A Child: committal proceeding) [2020] EWFC B5 (24 January 2020). It concerned a private children law matter where the father had tampered with a drug testing report – which would have shown...

Justice on the altar

by Lucy R | Apr 29, 2020 | Consultations, FCReportingWatch, Trends

A couple of weeks back, the President of the Family Division quite sensibly decided that he needed to take stock of how things were working out, now that the Family Court is conducting many hearings by remote means, whether by phone or video. To that end the Family...

Publication and correction of judgments – official and unofficial sources

by Paul M | Apr 29, 2020 | Cases, Comment, FCReportingWatch, Transparency News, Trends

Who is responsible for publishing the official approved version of judgments of the courts? Where should we look to find the latest, in some cases corrected, version of a court judgment? These are not new questions, but the sudden swerve to virtual justice has thrown...

Re Z – transparency and participation in the Court of Protection

by Julie D | Apr 25, 2020 | Cases, Comment, Court of Protection, FCReportingWatch

A judgment published this week on BAILII, Re Z, also, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust v Z (by her litigation friend, the Official Solicitor) [2020] EWCOP 20 , is notable on two counts. First, that the case is described by the judge, Knowles J, as...

Remote hearings and inclusive justice

by Paul M | Apr 24, 2020 | Comment, FCReportingWatch, Trends

How effectively are people with a cognitive impairment, mental health condition and/or neuro-diverse condition able to participate in proceedings in the justice system, particularly when they engage with that system via video or telephone link? That is the focus of an...