Going off piste: how far beyond the local authority’s ‘threshold’ allegations can the court go in the findings it makes against parents?

by Guest Post | Mar 1, 2022 | Cases, Explanation, FCReportingWatch

This is a guest post by Iain Large. Iain is a practising barrister and a member of St John’s Chambers in Bristol. He is a specialist in both public law children proceedings and private law disputes involving children, financial and property matters. He tweets as...

Survey: how do you find and use judgments?

by Paul M | Feb 25, 2022 | Consultations, FCReportingWatch, Transparency News

The National Archives (TNA) will soon be launching their new national database of judgments from the courts of England and Wales. They would like to ensure that this new online service is accessible for everyone. To that end, they are conducting user research to...

Legal blogging: an appeal from a fact-finding hearing

by Julie Doughty | Feb 21, 2022 | Cases, FCReportingWatch, Legal blogging

Over the past few weeks, I attended three online hearings in one case, as a legal blogger. The judge has given me permission to write on it (but more on that, see final paragraphs below). The case was an appeal to a circuit judge, HHJ Levey at Portsmouth Family Court,...

A not quite so Open Government Plan

by Paul M | Feb 20, 2022 | Comment, FCReportingWatch, Transparency News

The UK’s fifth National Action Plan for Open Government 2021–2023 (NAP5) was published on 31 January 2022. It sets out six commitments in line with the international Open Government Partnership values of transparency and openness, civic participation and...

FAMILY COURT REPORTING WATCH ROUNDUP

by Alice T | Feb 20, 2022 | Cases, Comment, Consultations, FCReportingWatch, Transparency News

Welcome to this month’s Roundup, where we correct, clarify and comment on media reports of family court cases, explain and comment on published family court judgments and highlight other transparency news MEDIA COVERAGE OF FAMILY COURT MATTERS The Independent –...

Which Judges can relax reporting restrictions?

by Lucy R | Feb 13, 2022 | FCReportingWatch, Legal blogging

It’s not that often that a journalist or legal blogger attends a family court hearing but, when they do, they will often ask for permission to report what has taken place, anonymously. Because lawyers and judges are often unfamiliar with dealing with this sort...

What is ‘gaslighting’ and what does it mean in family court cases?

by Julie Doughty | Feb 11, 2022 | Cases, FCReportingWatch, Trends

We have noticed assumptions that family courts are familar with the terms ‘gaslighting’ and ‘being gaslit’, but is the meaning widely known and understood? A straw poll suggests not. This post will look at the origins of the concept, and its...

The Transparency Project’s response to the consultation on improving the judicial disciplinary system

by reporting watch team | Feb 8, 2022 | Consultations, FCReportingWatch

We’ve published our response to the consultation in the form of a post below: JUDICIAL DISCIPLINE: CONSULTATION ON PROPOSALS ABOUT THE JUDICIAL DISCIPLINARY SYSTEM IN ENGLAND AND WALES – RESPONSE OF THE TRANSPARENCY PROJECT TO THE CONSULTATION THE...

Local authority support services in Wales and private law contact disputes: Re R-E

by Julie Doughty | Feb 5, 2022 | Cases, Comment, Explanation, FCReportingWatch

This judgment, Re R-E (Contact: Support from local authorities in Wales) [2021] EWFC B95 from Pontypridd Family Court, published on BAILII a few days ago, has a number of unusual features. One is the outcome, that direct contact was found not to be in the...

Behind Closed Doors. Why We Break Up Families and How to Mend Them by Polly Curtis: A BOOK REVIEW

by Alice T | Feb 2, 2022 | Comment, FCReportingWatch, Transparency News

This is a live book review. I’m writing it as I read it. The book itself is a beautiful object. I don’t read enough books to know if this is typical for a Virago hardback, the latest thing in hardbacks, or just this book.  This book feels pocket-sized. You’d...