Today, the Ministry of Justice has announced the makeup of the TIG – the Transparency Implementation Group who will take forward the recommendations made in the President’s Review published at the end of October, that we wrote about here.
The group is appropriately wide ranging. We at The Transparency Project are very pleased that our Chair, Lucy Reed, barrister and no doubt the most assiduous legal blogger within the Family Court rules is a member, and that Julie Doughty, one of our trustees, has been appointed to the academic post. Thirdly, TP member, Jack Harrison, has been appointed as Secretary to the TIG. An initial meeting has been called for next week.
The details of membership are:
| Role | Member | Description | |
| 1 | Head of TIG | President of the Family Division Sir Andrew McFarlane | Head of Family Justice England and Wales |
| 2 | Co-Chair | Mrs Justice Nathalie Lieven | Family Division Judge |
| 3 | Co-Chair | Her Honour Judge Madeleine Reardon | East London Family Court |
| 4 | TR Independent Panel Member | Nicola Shaw CBE | |
| 5 | Secretary to the TIG | Jack Harrison | Barrister – Coram Chambers (London) and Deans Court Chambers (Manchester) |
| 6 7 | Family Justice Young Peoples Board | Jennifer Gibbon-Lynch & Young person(s) | FJYPB Co-ordinator |
| 8 9 | Family Rights Group Family Rights Group | Angela Frazer-Wicks Clare Walsh | Chair of Trustees, Family Rights Group & member of parents’ panel Kinship Carer |
| 10 | Data Expert | Dr Natalie Byrom | Director of Research The Legal Education Foundation |
| 11 | Nuffield Family Justice Observatory | Lisa Harker | Director |
| 12 | Academic | Dr Julie Doughty | Senior Lecturer in Law, School of Law and Politics, Cardiff University |
| 13 | Practitioner Barrister | Charles Hale QC | Barrister & Arbitrator 4 Paper Buildings |
| 14 | Practitioner Junior Barrister | Femi Ogunlende | Barrister No5 Chambers |
| 15 | Practitioner Media specialist | Guy Vassall-Adams QC | Barrister Matrix Chambers |
| 16 | Practitioner Solicitor | Olive Craig | Senior Legal Officer, Rights of Women |
| 17 | District Judge | DJ Adem Muzaffer | Cardiff Civil and Family Justice Centre |
| 18 | Legal Adviser | Tom Foley | Legal Adviser HMCTS Midlands Region |
| 19 | Media Rep- Journalist | Sian Harrison | Law Service Editor PA Media |
| 20 | Media Rep- Legal Blogger | Lucy Reed | Chair of The Transparency Project, Barrister & Blogger |
| 21 22 | Ministry of Justice Ministry of Justice | Ana Popa Maxine Monks | Family Justice Policy Open Justice and Transparency Team |
| 23 | HMCTS | Adam Lennon | Deputy Director and Service Owner-Family |
| 24 | DfE | Lauren Kocan | Head of Children’s Rights and Family Justice |
| 25 | Cafcass | Jack Cordery | National Director of Operations |
| 26 | ADCS | Helen Lincoln | Executive Director for Children, Families & Education (DCS) Essex County Council |
It’s encouraging and exciting to see the implementation of the transparently start! It is hopeful that this will start to correct the existing issues in the family court and judges can be given more trainings in order to help families to move forward in the best interest of children.
what about the innocent parents and children that have already been torn apart unlawfully ?