Category: children

Separated Parents: Sharing Parental Responsibility – Becket Chambers

Posted April 6th, 2022 in chambers articles, children, families, family courts, news, parental responsibility by sally

‘Thankfully, most parents who go through the challenges of separation do manage to co-parent and make joint decisions regarding the upbringing of their child or children. Sadly, this is not always the case. The family courts see a large number of cases where in the context of custody or contact disputes, the right to make decisions can become part of the battle ground. The disputes can range from the significant to the relatively trivial.’

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Becket Chambers, 1st April 2022

Source: becket-chambers.co.uk

Children subject of deprivation of liberty applications spending “significant” amount of time in suboptimal placements, research highlights – Local Government Lawyer

Posted April 5th, 2022 in children, deprivation of liberty safeguards, news, placement orders, reports by sally

‘It is evident that children who are the subject of applications to the Family Court to authorise a deprivation of liberty, are spending significant periods of time in “suboptimal” placements without the therapeutic support they need to make significant long-term improvements, according to a review of published judgments by the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory (NFJO).’

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Local Government Lawyer, 4th April 2022

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Child Q: Met Police changes strip-search policy in two London boroughs – BBC News

Posted April 4th, 2022 in children, disciplinary procedures, drug offences, London, news, police, professional conduct, race discrimination, racism, school children by sally

‘A strip-search of any child in two London boroughs will need approval from an inspector in the wake of the Child Q controversy, the Met Police says.’

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BBC News, 2nd April 2022

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Radlett anaesthetist jailed for arranging child sex abuse – BBC News

Posted April 4th, 2022 in child abuse, children, disciplinary procedures, doctors, imprisonment, internet, news, sentencing, sexual offences by sally

‘An NHS consultant anaesthetist who was caught by police while arranging to sexually abuse a seven-year-old girl has been jailed for 28 months.’

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BBC News, 2nd April 2022

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Shrewsbury maternity report: Uncovering the biggest NHS maternity scandal – BBC News

Posted April 4th, 2022 in birth, causing death of children or vulnerable adults, children, families, hospitals, inquiries, midwives, news, pregnancy by sally

‘A damning report this week revealed the catastrophic failings at an NHS trust, where at least 201 babies and nine mothers might have survived with better maternity care. Michael Buchanan has led the BBC’s investigation into the scandal and first reported concerns five years ago, but he says he’s not done in Shrewsbury yet.’

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BBC News, 2nd April 2022

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Court of Appeal allows appeal over placement order after judicial analysis “fell significantly short” – Local Government Lawyer

Posted April 1st, 2022 in adoption, appeals, children, families, family courts, judgments, local government, news, placement orders by sally

‘The Court of Appeal has overturned a decision to make a placement order for an 18-month-old boy after finding that the judicial analysis “fell significantly short”.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 31st March 2022

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Case Comment: In The Matter of T (A Child) [2021] UKSC 35 – UKSC Blog

Posted March 31st, 2022 in children, consent, deprivation of liberty safeguards, judiciary, local government, news, Supreme Court by sally

‘In this post, Matthew Purchase QC of Matrix Chambers discusses the Supreme Court’s decision in the matter of T (A Child) [2021] UKSC 35. The Court was asked to consider two things: first, whether it was a permissible exercise of the High Court’s inherent jurisdiction to make an order authorising a local authority to deprive a child of his or her liberty in this category of case, and secondly if, contrary to T’s argument the High Court can have recourse to its inherent jurisdiction to make an order of the type in question, what the relevance is of the child’s consent to the proposed living arrangements.’

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UKSC Blog, 30th March 2022

Source: ukscblog.com

Shropshire baby deaths: The harrowing stories that informed the inquiry – The Independent

Posted March 30th, 2022 in bereavement, birth, causing death of children or vulnerable adults, children, complaints, families, hospitals, inquiries, midwives, news, pregnancy by sally

‘Investigator Donna Ockenden’s team has recorded the harrowing stories of children and mothers dying at the hands of the Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust.’

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The Independent, 30th March 2022

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Child Q: Black professionals urge education secretary to take action following strip-search – The Independent

Posted March 28th, 2022 in children, codes of practice, disciplinary procedures, drug offences, facial mapping, government departments, news, police, race discrimination, racism, school children, teachers by sally

‘The education secretary must take immediate action to tackle institutional racism within the education sector following the “dehumanising” strip-search of a black child in London, a collective of black professionals has demanded.’

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The Independent, 26th March 2022

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Dubai ruler to have no direct contact with two children after UK court battle – The Guardian

Posted March 25th, 2022 in children, coercive & controlling behaviour, divorce, domestic violence, families, family courts, news by sally

‘The ruler of Dubai will have no face-to-face contact with his two children from his marriage to Princess Haya nor any substantive say in their upbringing, after a long-running court battle between the former couple and a series of damning judgments about his “abusive behaviour”.’

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The Guardian, 24th March 2022

Source: www.theguardian.com

Judge terminates appointment of guardian who criticised solicitor – Legal Futures

Posted March 23rd, 2022 in children, electronic mail, guardianship, law firms, news, solicitors by sally

‘A circuit judge has terminated the appointment of the guardian of a young child in care proceedings after he criticised the father’s solicitor in a letter to the law firm’s head of department.’

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Legal Futures, 23rd March 2022

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

Teaching assistant attacked by five-year-old who was ‘big for his age’ wins six-figure payout – Daily Telegraph

Posted March 23rd, 2022 in assault, children, compensation, employment, local government, news, personal injuries, school children by sally

‘A former teaching assistant has been awarded a six-figure payout after suing her bosses over an attack by a five-year-old who was “big for his age”.’

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Daily Telegraph, 22nd March 2022

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Two new cases where parents try to stop adoptions – Transparency Project

Posted March 21st, 2022 in adoption, appeals, care orders, children, families, local government, news, placement orders, statutory interpretation by sally

‘This post is about two recent judgments with a similar theme – attempts by birth parents to stop an adoption going through, on the legal basis of caselaw interpretation of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 that their circumstances had changed and that the original welfare decision and plan therefore need reconsidering. One, Re D, is a decision on leave to apply to revoke placement orders and the second, Re A and B, is a decision on opposing adoption orders. This means that the children in Re D are not yet living with prospective adopters, although the children in Re A and B are.’

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Transparency Project, 20th March 2022

Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk

Wales introduces ban on smacking and slapping children – The Guardian

Posted March 21st, 2022 in assault, child cruelty, children, families, news, Wales by sally

‘Smacking and slapping children has been outlawed in Wales, with people told to contact social services or police if they see a parent or carer meting out physical punishment.’

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The Guardian, 21st March 2022

Source: www.theguardian.com

Mother of murdered toddler Star Hobson has sentence increased – The Guardian

Posted March 16th, 2022 in appeals, attorney general, causing death of children or vulnerable adults, child cruelty, child neglect, children, families, imprisonment, murder, news, sentencing by sally

‘The mother of Star Hobson has had her prison sentence for her role in the toddler’s death increased by four years.’

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The Guardian, 15th March 2022

Source: www.theguardian.com

Met Police apologises for strip-search of Hackney schoolgirl – BBC News

Posted March 16th, 2022 in children, drug offences, news, police, race discrimination, racism, school children, stop and search by sally

‘A black schoolgirl was strip-searched by police after being wrongly suspected of carrying cannabis.’

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BBC News, 15th March 2022

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Surrogacy: the current law and proposals for reform – Family Law

Posted March 11th, 2022 in bills, children, families, news, surrogacy by sally

‘The number of people choosing surrogacy as a way to parenthood is increasing. Whilst it is difficult to know exactly how many surrogacy cases there have been in recent years, the number of applications for parental orders, which is the order required to recognise intended parents as a child’s legal parents, is growing. With this growth have come calls for reform to surrogacy laws, which many say are outdated and do not reflect current attitudes and lifestyles.’

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Family Law, 10th March 2022

Source: www.familylaw.co.uk

Teaching assistant who had sex with 14-year-old pupil in supermarket car park is jailed – The Independent

Posted March 11th, 2022 in abuse of position of trust, child abuse, children, imprisonment, news, school children, sentencing, sexual grooming, sexual offences by sally

‘A teaching assistant who had sex with a 14-year-old pupil in a supermarket car park has been jailed for six years.’

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The Independent, 10th March 2022

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Former Radio 1 DJ Mark Page jailed over Philippines child sexual offences – The Guardian

Posted March 11th, 2022 in abuse of position of trust, charities, child abuse, children, imprisonment, news, sentencing, sexual offences by sally

‘A former BBC Radio 1 DJ has been jailed for 12 years for arranging to sexually abuse vulnerable children in the Philippines.’

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The Guardian, 10th March 2022

Source: www.theguardian.com

TikTok: lawyers ‘unwisely’ waited until last minute – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted March 10th, 2022 in brexit, children, internet, misuse of private information, news, privacy, service, service out of jurisdiction, time limits by sally

‘The High Court has dealt a blow to the claimant in a high-profile privacy claim against social media platform TikTok after refusing an extension of time for service.
In SMO (A Child) v Tiktok Inc & Ors Mr Justice Nicklin said that the “inescapable reality” of why the claimant needed an extension was that she had waited until the last minute to meet key deadlines.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 9th March 2022

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk