Children: Private Law Update – Family Law Week
‘Alex Verdan QC, of 4 Paper Buildings, reviews recent important judgments in private law children cases.’
Full story
Family Law Week, 29th July 2015
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
Category: children
Adam Stokes jailed for killing baby daughter Scarlett – BBC News
‘A father who shook his nine-week-old daughter to death has been jailed for seven years.’
BBC News, 11th August 2015
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
More parents in England prosecuted for taking children out of school – The Guardian
‘Increasing numbers of parents are being taken to court because their children have skipped school, with thousands facing action last year.’
The Guardian, 12th August 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Rule committee bids to ease burden of costs management – Litigation Futures
‘Cases relating to children are to be excluded from the scope of costs management, the Civil Procedure Rule Committee (CPRC) has decided, while there will be new provisions to encourage agreement of budgets.’
Litigation Futures, 10th August 2015,
Source: www.litigationfutures.com
Successful judicial review of social services age assessment – Free Movement
‘R (on the application of GB by litigation friend, Francesco Jeff) v Oxfordshire County Council (age dispute- relevance of documents) IJR [2015] UKUT 429 (IAC) is an interesting and successful judicial review challenge to an age assessment. My colleague Shu Shin Luh was Counsel, instructed by Scott-Moncrieff & Associates.
Free Movement, 10th August 2015
Source: www.freemovement.org.uk
Costs budgeting rules to be lifted for child claims – Law Society’s Gazette
‘Civil procedure rules are set to be changed to make cases relating to children exempt from costs management.’
Law Society’s Gazette, 6th August 2015
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
Injuries to Infant with Bone Disorder: latest deliberations of the High Court – Family Law Week
‘Zimran Samuel, barrister of 42 Bedford Row, comments on Mr Justice Peter Jackson’s recent judgment concerning an infant with vitamin D deficiency induced rickets who had suffered multiple fractures.’
Family Law week, 30th July 2015
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
Judges considering fate of children as young as two amid radicalisation fears – The Guardian
‘More than 30 children – some “almost babes-in-arms” – have been made the subject of family court orders over radicalisation fears, police have revealed.’
The Guardian, 5th August 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Judge tags families over fears they could take children to Islamic State areas – The Guardian
‘Adult members of two families have been ordered by a judge to be immediately fitted with electronic monitoring tags because of fears they could take children to areas controlled by Islamic State.’
The Guardian, 4th August 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Mothers Confined – Part 2: Time for action – Halsbury’s Law Exchange
It is plain that across the board there is a desire for change in relation to women and criminal justice. Many examples exists of wonderful, creative, worthwhile and even evidently successful projects in relation to diverting women away from custody and improving conditions for women who lose their liberty. Research related to women and criminal justice is ongoing from a range of respected and vociferous advocates such as Women’s Breakout, The Prison Reform Trust, Women in Prison and Halsbury’s Law Exchange to name but a few – many working together to effect change. There is no doubt that evidence and recommendations from each of these respected bodies – and more alongside them – will call for real change, offering genuine educated and reasonable arguments for doing so. However arguably (at least for now), the real “power” lies with the Courts, ergo it is the Courts who need to be at the vanguard of change.
Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 3rd August 2015
Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk
Mothers Confined – Part 1: Over the threshold? – Halsbury’s Law Exchange
‘Research surrounding the imprisonment of women, indeed even the imprisonment of mothers, is not new. A plethora of researchers and scholars have explored the issues surrounding women and criminal justice with passion and tenacity, arguably all of whom have contributed to the evidence-laden pathway culminating in the inspirational and influential 2006 Corston Report.’
Halsbury’s Law Exchange, 31st July 2015
Source: www.halsburyslawexchange.co.uk
Families travelling to join Isis should be allowed to keep custody of their children, says judge – The Independent
‘Families suspected of attempting to travel overseas to join Isis should be allowed to keep custody of their children – as long as the parents wear electronic tags, a High Court judge has ruled.’
The Independent, 31st July 2015
Source: www.independent.co.uk
A rape test for welfare is a chilling way to save money – The Guardian
‘Rape that results in pregnancy is one circumstance that defies the chancellor’s notion of choice about family size.’
Full story
The Guardian, 29th July 2015
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Child Protection and Data Protection – Panopticon
‘The spectre of Jimmy Saville casts a long shadow and now it extends to data protection, the Data Protection Act 1998 being the latest august and uniformly popular institution (following the BBC, Broadmoor and Margaret Thatcher to name just some) to suffer as a result of his actions. The perennial sight of investigations and public inquiries into historic sex abuse of children in local authority, chiefly arising out of the wider ramifications of Operation Yewtree, has provided a very ready explanation for local authorities for the need to retain child protection data.’
Panopticon, 23rd July 2015
Source: www.panopticonblog.com
Primary considerations – Nearly Legal
‘In Mohamoud v RB Kensington and Chelsea and Saleem v Wandsworth LBC [2015] EWCA Civ 780, the Court of Appeal were faced with the difficult argument about the interaction between section 11, Children Act 2004 and possession proceedings brought by a local authority against unsuccessful applicants for homelessness assistance. In Huzrat v Wandsworth LBC [2013] EWCA Civ 1865, the Court had previously found that there was no room for the use of section 11 to gloss the clear questions which a local authority must ask itself to determine whether an applicant is intentionally homeless, but that is very different from the question in Mohamoud. After all, mandatory possession proceedings have clear consequences.’
Nearly Legal, 24th July 2015
Source: www.nearlylegal.co.uk
UN urges UK to make smacking illegal – BBC News
‘The UK should pass laws to ban parents from smacking their children at home, a United Nations report has suggested.’
BBC News, 24th July 2015
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Facebook, child protection and outsourced monitoring – Panopticon
‘Facebook is no stranger to complaints about the content of posts. Usually, one user complains to Facebook about what other users’ posts say about him. By making the offending posts available, Facebook is processing the complainant’s personal data, and must do so in compliance with data protection law.’
Full story
Panopticon, 22nd Juyl 2015
Source: www.panopticonblog.com
Khaleel Hussain murder case review launched in Coventry – BBC News
‘A serious case review has been launched following the murder of a two-year-old boy from Coventry.’
BBC News, 22nd July 2015
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Poppi Worthington: Court overturns baby’s ‘unexplained death’ verdict – The Independent
‘Poppi Iris Worthington was just 13 months old when she died in December 2012 and still, nearly three years later, the reasons why remain a secret. This is despite the efforts of several pathologists, a “fact-finding” judgment that remains unpublished, an ongoing Serious Case Review, and a failed police investigation that saw three officers accused of misconduct.’
The Independent, 22nd July 2015
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Paedophile Phillip Kirk who wrote a letter to Theresa May asking for sex with children to be legalised is jailed – The Independent
‘A paedophile was caught after he wrote to Home Secretary Theresa May asking for sex with children to be legalised.’
The Independent, 20th July 2015
Source: www.independent.co.uk
