Court of Protection Update – Family Law Week
“Sally Bradley and Michael Edwards, barristers, 4 Paper Buildings, consider three important judgments of the Court of Protection.”
Family Law Week, 20th September 2013
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
Category: contact orders
Re A (A Child) – Pink Tape
“For those of you who had been pondering about the applicability of Re B [2013] UKSC 33 to private law cases – Re A (A Child) [2013] EWCA Civ 1104 goes some distance towards providing an answer. It concerns exceptionally long running private law proceedings, of the ‘implacable hostility’ variety, which the Circuit Judge acknowledged on concluding them had been characterised by systemic failure. The order was for no direct contact between the girl and her father and a s91(14) order until the child’s 16th birthday (she was 13 at the time). The father appealed and did so in person. He criticised the manner in which the entire proceedings had been conducted. He did not accept that the Circuit Judge was right to draw a line under the proceedings, now that the child was 13 years old and firmly expressing her opposition to contact and the proceedings.”
Pink Tape, 22nd September 2013
Source: www.pinktape.co.uk
Vegetarian mother stopped father seeing son in case he fed him meat – Daily Telegraph
“A vegetarian mother who stopped her five year-old son from seeing his father because she feared he might feed him meat must let him see the child or lose custody, a judge ruled.”
Daily Telegraph, 11th September 2013
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Father’s rights severely curtailed; James Hargen comments on PM v MB – Sovereign Chambers
“On 31st July the Court of Appeal delivered a reserved judgement in the case of PM –v- MB & anr [2013] EWCA Civ 969, in which the Father of the child concerned sought to appeal a County Court decision refusing him parental responsibility, allowing indirect email contact only, and, section 91(14) CA ’89, prohibiting any further application by him without leave for a period of two years.”
Sovereign Chambers, 5th August 2013
Source: www.sovereignchambers.co.uk
Children: Private Law update (May 2013) – Family Law Week
“Alex Verdan QC of 4 Paper Buildings considers three important recent judgments in Children private law proceedings.”
Family Law Week, 19th June 2013
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
Atiya Anjum-Wilkinson: Father in court bid for access – BBC News
“A father who was jailed after abducting his daughter and taking her to Pakistan
for three years has appeared in court to make a bid for access to the child.”
BBC News, 15th March 2013
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Children and same sex families: known biological fathers and contact: the decision in S v D and E / T v X and Y [2013] EWHC – Zenith Chambers
“Where do parents and prospective parents stand after the very recent decision in the case of S v D and E? What can parenting lesbian mothers and the men who donate sperm to enable them to have children expect if there is a disagreement between them as to the role of biological fathers in their children’s lives?”
Zenith Chambers, 14th February 2013
Source: www.zenithchambers.co.uk
Sperm donors who know parents can apply to see children, court rules – The Guardian
“Sperm donors who know the parents to whom they have donated can apply for contact with their biological children, a court has ruled. Previously this was not allowed. The ruling has major implications for anyone who has a child conceived using the sperm of someone they know and for those considering starting a family this way.”
The Guardian, 31st January 2013
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
In re A (A Child) (Family Proceedings: Disclosure of Information) – WLR Daily
“The identity of a third party and the allegations of sexual abuse which she made in confidence against the father of a child who was the subject of contact proceedings would be disclosed in those proceedings since to do so would not violate her right to protection from inhuman or degrading treatment under article 3 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, and would be a proportionate interference with her right to respect for her private life under article 8, since it was justified by the need to protect the parents’ and child’s rights to a fair trial and respect for their family life, guaranteed by articles 6 and 8 of the Convention.”
WLR Daily, 12th December 2012
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Supreme Court: Articles 3, 6 and 8 ECHR in child protection PII case – Panopticon
“There have been a number of important privacy judgments in recent weeks, particularly concerning Article 8 ECHR in cases with child protection elements.”
Panopticon, 13th December 2012
Children’s experience of parental separation: research challenges law change proposal – Family Law week
“Government plans to amend the 1989 Children Act by introducing a presumption of shared parenting are well-intentioned but misguided, say the authors of new research into childhood experience of family break-ups.”
Family Law Week, 22nd November 2012
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
Man appeals against ban on replying to children – The Independent
“A father-of-four has criticised an ‘absurd’ court order that bans him from returning his children’s text messages or phone calls.”
The Independent, 17th July 2012
Source: www.independent.co.uk
Children: Private Law Update – Family Law Week
“Alex Verdan QC of 4 Paper Buildings considers several recent important judgments covering a range of private law issues concerning children.”
Family Law Week, 23rd May 2012
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
Researching Relocation Disputes in First Instance Courts – Family Law Week
“Dr Rob George, Fellow in Law at the University of Oxford and Associate Tenant at Harcourt Chambers, discusses relocation disputes and his on-going research into how these cases are dealt with in the first instance courts of England and Wales.”
Family Law Week, 13th April 2012
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
“Hugely important” 1996 Hague Convention anticipated to come into force on 1st August this year – Family Law Week
“The Annual Report of the Office of the Head of International Family Justice for England and Wales has just been published. Lord Justice Thorpe, Head of International Justice for England and Wales reports on the activities of ‘the Office’ during the period January-December 2011.”
Family Law Week, 3rd April 2012
Source: www.familylawweek.com
Are We Missing a Trick? Section 34 of the Children Act – An under-used application – Family Law Week
“Julie Stather, barrister, of 42 Bedford Row examines the advantages to child, parents and local authority of using section 34 of the Children Act.”
Family Law Week, 31st March 2012
Source: www.familylawweek.com
A v B and another (Female parents: Role of biological father) – WLR Daily
“Where a child was conceived by a mother and a father by virtue of an agreement between them that the child would live with and be brought up in the care of the mother and her female partner as the primary care givers of the child, there could be no general rule in family proceedings that the biological father was to be regarded only as a ‘secondary’ parent or to have a limited relationship with the child. Each case was fact specific and the welfare of the child was paramount.”
WLR Daily, 14th March 2012
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Gay father wins right to be involved in son’s life – The Guardian
“The gay father of a two-year-old boy living with his lesbian mother and her partner has won the right to be involved in his life in a landmark ruling that could have significant implications for ‘alternative families’.”
The Guardian, 14th March 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Divorced fathers to get more contact with their children – The Guardian
“Fathers will get improved contact with their children following divorce, amid plans to rewrite the law governing custody disputes.”
The Guardian,3rd February 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Principal Reporter v K and others – WLR Daily
Principal Reporter v K and others [2010] UKSC 56; [2010] WLR (D) 332
“Positive procedural obligations inherent in the right to respect for family life required sufficient safeguards to be put in place so that a parent or other person whose family life with the child was at risk in the proceedings was given a proper opportunity to participate in the decision-making process.”
WLR Daily, 16th December 2010
Source: www.lawreports.co.uk
Please note once a case has been fully reported in one of the ICLR series the corresponding WLR Daily summary is removed.
