Category: children

Mediation and the judge’s letter to ‘Sam’: judges need to ‘use their imaginations’ – Family Law

Posted October 27th, 2017 in children, dispute resolution, family courts, judges, judgments, news by sally

‘In a recent article Jane Robey makes a serious point about judicial referral of parties to mediation; but she does so by criticising the judgment of Peter Jackson J (now Peter Jackson LJ) and his letter to ‘Sam’. There are lots of things wrong with the family justice system; and take up of mediation is disappointing. To use Peter Jackson J’s direct communication with the subject of the application in his court, as a means of promoting referral to mediation is surely to pick the wrong target?’

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Family Law, 26th October 2017

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

Covert Recording : A hot potato lob by the Court of Appeal – Transparency Project

Posted October 26th, 2017 in children, evidence, families, family courts, news, social services by sally

‘The Court of Appeal delivered judgment in Re B (A Child) [2017] EWCA Civ 1579 last week. In it they consider (but do not resolve) the question of how the Family Court should deal with evidence obtained by covert recording. Whilst it took the Court of Appeal almost a year from the hearing of the appeal to the delivery of judgment (see our post about the appeal hearing itself here), this particular potato remains red hot. The topic of recording – covertly or overtly, of social workers or children or otherwise – is discussed daily on private groups on Facebook, openly on other social media platforms – and, from time to time, in judgments of the Family Court and by lawyers.’

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Transparency Project, 24th October 2017

Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk

Should children be heard in court? – Family Law

Posted October 26th, 2017 in children, family courts, news by sally

‘Politicians, campaigners and lawyers have long considered the extent to which children should be directly involved in Children Act proceedings.’

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Family Law, 25th October 2017

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

Lack of secure accommodation – ‘blood on our hands’? – Family Law

Posted October 24th, 2017 in care orders, children, detention, housing, mental health, news, self-harm, young persons by sally

‘It is sometimes necessary for local authorities to seek to place a looked after child in what is called secure accommodation. This is designed to protect them from injuring themselves or others and/or absconding from other types of accommodation and suffering significant harm as a consequence.’

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Family Law, 23rd October 2017

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

Family court data links adverse family experiences with proven youth offending – Family Law

Posted October 23rd, 2017 in children, family courts, news, recidivists, young offenders, young persons by sally

‘Children in contact with the public law system are more likely to offend and commit multiple offences between the ages of 10 and 17 than those of the equivalent age group in the general population, according to an analytical summary published by the Ministry of Justice this week.’

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Family Law, 20th October 2017

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

Child gambling: remove ‘unacceptable’ online ads, regulators demand – The Guardian

Posted October 23rd, 2017 in advertising, children, gambling, internet, news by sally

‘Regulators have launched a crackdown on child gambling by demanding online gambling sites remove “unacceptable” adverts featuring cartoon characters likely to appeal to children.’

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The Guardian, 22nd October 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

Chris Ferguson discusses; Proportionality and Integrity – Park Square Barristers

Posted October 20th, 2017 in care orders, children, fostering, grandparents, news, placement orders, proportionality by sally

‘Not long ago I represented a pair of maternal grandparents in a case in Teesside. They had been closely involved with the family over a period of years, although the mother of the two girls at the heart of the case had moved away (not far) during recent times. The mother had various problems and the father barely featured in the proceedings. A few years back the grandparents had actually taken the older girl under their wing for a while (prior to the birth of her sister) and the girls’ older brother was living with them full time under a court order.’

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Park Square Barristers, 6th October 2017

Source: www.parksquarebarristers.co.uk

​Lack of secure accommodation – “blood on our hands”? – Zenith Chambers

Posted October 20th, 2017 in care orders, children, news, self-harm by sally

‘It is sometimes necessary for local authorities to seek to place a looked after child in what is called secure accommodation. This is designed to protect them from injuring themselves or others and/or absconding from other types of accommodation and suffering significant harm as a consequence.’

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Zenith Chambers, 18th October 2017

Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk

Known Sperm Donor and Co-parenting Arrangements – a cautionary tale – Family Law Week

Posted October 19th, 2017 in agreements, assisted reproduction, children, families, news, parental rights by tracey

‘Rose-Marie Drury, Senior Associate with Mills & Reeve LLP, considers the legal issues for parties involved in such arrangements.’

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Family Law Week, 18th October 2017

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

Two-child limit on benefit claims to be challenged in court – The Guardian

Posted October 18th, 2017 in benefits, children, judicial review, news, tax credits by sally

‘The government is facing a high court challenge to its two-child limit on benefit claims, the basis for the hugely controversial “rape clause” policy, it has emerged.’

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The Guardian, 17th October 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

Should children be heard in English family court cases? – BBC News

Posted October 17th, 2017 in children, family courts, news, treaties, witnesses by tracey

‘Children, campaigners and some judges are calling for a change in the law so that children at the heart of family cases in England and Wales can talk in private to the judge if they so choose.’

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BBC News, 17th October 2017

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Hair Strand Testing for Cocaine – Family Law Week

Posted October 13th, 2017 in children, drug abuse, expert witnesses, forensic science, guardianship, news by tracey

‘Emily James and Kate Tompkins, barristers of 36 Family, consider a new judgment in which Sir Peter Jackson affirmed, and offered guidance on, current testing arrangements.’

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Family Law Week, 12th October 2017

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

UK proposals for child data consent could be illegal, says peer – OUT-LAW.com

Posted October 12th, 2017 in bills, children, consent, data protection, internet, news by sally

‘Plans to make 13 the age at which children in the UK can consent to the processing of their data on social media websites and other online platforms “would almost certainly be illegal”, a UK peer has said.’

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OUT-LAW.com, 12th October 2017

Source: www.out-law.com

Revealed: Bar Council pulls plug on pioneering nursery – Legal Futures

Posted October 10th, 2017 in barristers, children, fees, news, women by sally

‘The Bar Council has closed its flagship nursery scheme at Smithfield in the City of London, citing a lack of places and promising to find other, “more effective” ways of supporting barristers with childcare responsibilities.’

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Legal Futures, 10th October 2017

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

‘Narcissistic cult’ brothers put into care – BBC News

Posted October 10th, 2017 in care orders, children, families, mental health, news by sally

‘Three teenage brothers should be taken from their mother and put into care, having developed a “narcissistic cult” mentality, a High Court judge has said.’

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BBC News, 9th October 2017

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Divorce and children – is shared care a right or responsibility? – Family Law

Posted October 9th, 2017 in children, custody, divorce, families, news, parental responsibility, parental rights by sally

‘‘I know my rights’ – With that statement a family lawyer will naturally turn to s 2A of the Children Act 1989 and the presumption of parental involvement.
‘Parents do not have rights, they have responsibilities’ – Arguably one is now considering the court’s overriding objective and paramount consideration as set out in s 1 of the Children Act 1989 which highlights the welfare of any child.’

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Family Law, 5th October 2017

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

Number of child-on-child sexual assaults almost doubles – Daily Telegraph

Posted October 9th, 2017 in children, freedom of information, internet, news, pornography, sexual offences, statistics by sally

‘Reports of children sexually assaulting each other have almost doubled in the last four years, figures show as experts blame the rise in the availability of online pornography.’

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Daily Telegraph, 9th October 2017

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Man convicted after showing child graphic Daesh beheading video – Crown Prosecution Service

Posted October 6th, 2017 in children, news, proscribed organisations, terrorism by tracey

‘A pharmacist from Leicester has today (5 October 2017) been convicted for showing graphic beheading videos to a young child as part of a plan to radicalise two young children.’

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Crown Prosecution Service, 5th October 2017

Source: www.cps.gov.uk

LGO criticises failure of council to assess vulnerable young children at risk of harm – Local Government Lawyer

Posted October 5th, 2017 in children, domestic violence, families, local government, news, social services, violence, young offenders by tracey

‘The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman has accused a council of not doing enough to safeguard a family who made multiple appeals for help to protect their younger children from threats of violence made by their teenage son.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 4th October 2017

Source: localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Revised Practice Direction 12J – Child Arrangements and Contact Orders: Domestic Abuse and Harm – Family Law

Posted October 4th, 2017 in child arrangements orders, children, contact orders, domestic violence, news, practice directions by sally

‘Sir James Munby, President of the Family Division, has issued a revised Practice Direction 12J of the Family Procedure Rules 2010 which came into force on 2 October 2017. The Practice Direction applies to any family proceedings in the Family Court or the High Court and specifically applies to any application made for a Child Arrangements Order or should any question arise about where a child should live, or about contact between a child and a parent or other family member and the court considers that an order should be made.’

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Family Law, 3rd October 2017

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk