Family court delay risking lives, says charity – BBC News

Posted July 27th, 2017 in children, delay, domestic violence, family courts, news by tracey

‘Domestic violence campaigners say they are very concerned plans to protect children from violent parents during custody battles have been delayed. Changes to family court guidelines were announced in January, but still have not been signed off by the government.’

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BBC News, 27th July 2017

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Finance and Divorce Update, July 2017 – Family Law Week

Posted July 7th, 2017 in divorce, domestic violence, families, financial provision, news, statistics by tracey

‘Sue Brookes, Senior Associate with Mills & Reeve LLP analyses the news and case law relating to financial remedies and divorce during June 2017.’

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Family Law Week, 6th July 2017

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

Robert Trigg: Killer jailed for 25 years after murder of two former girlfriends – The Independent

Posted July 7th, 2017 in domestic violence, murder, news, recidivists, sentencing by tracey

‘A man found guilty of killing two former girlfriends, five years apart, following a long campaign for justice by his second victim’s family has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 25 years.’

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The Independent, 6th July 2017

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Man found guilty of killing two girlfriends five years apart – The Guardian

Posted July 6th, 2017 in domestic violence, murder, news, recidivists by sally

‘An unemployed man is facing a life sentence after being convicted of killing two of his former girlfriends five years apart following a long-running campaign for justice by one of his victim’s family.’

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The Guardian, 5th July 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

Allocations: Local Lettings and Undisclosed Policies – Garden Court Chambers

‘The defendant, Islington Borough Council, maintained an allocation scheme which provided that certain categories of people were excluded from joining the housing register, including those who had lived in the borough for less than three out of the previous five years. However, the scheme allowed for exceptions to be made. In particular, in respect of homeless applicants to whom a long-term housing duty under Part 7 Housing Act 1996 had been accepted.’

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Garden Court Chambers, 5th July 2017

Source: www.gardencourtchambers.co.uk

New measures to allow ratification of Istanbul Convention – Home Office

Posted June 30th, 2017 in domestic violence, news, press releases, treaties, women by tracey

‘The government will introduce new measures to protect women and girls from crimes committed overseas as part of its Domestic Abuse Bill. The new legislation would be the final step to enable ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women, known as the Istanbul Convention.’

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Home Office, 29th June 2017

Source: www.gov.uk

New measures on violence against women to be put in domestic abuse bill – The Guardian

Posted June 28th, 2017 in bills, domestic violence, news, women by sally

‘New measures to protect women and girls from crimes committed overseas will be included in legislation on domestic abuse, the government has said.’

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The Guardian, 28th June 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

F v L (Child Arrangements Order: Relocation) – WLR Daily

F v L (Child Arrangements Order: Relocation)[2017] EWHC 1377 (Fam)

‘The mother, an Italian national, sought a child arrangements order (“CAO”) under section 8 of the Children Act 1989, as amended, in respect of the child, aged five, and permission to relocate with him to Italy, alleging serious domestic abuse by the father. The Italian father opposed the application for relocation and cross-applied for a shared care CAO. Despite the recommendation in the report prepared by the CAFCASS officer that the child’s main carer be his mother and that she should be given permission to relocate to Italy, the trial judge decided not to consider or make any finding in respect of the abuse allegations, refused the mother’s application to relocate and ordered the continuance of the shared care regime. The mother appealed on the grounds, inter alia, that the trial judge had made a fundamental procedural error in failing to resolve the issue of the future care of the child prior to considering the application for relocation and had failed to make findings on the abuse allegations.’

WLR Daily, 9th June 2017

Source: www.iclr.co.uk

Two brothers jailed after keeping mother and sister as domestic slaves in Bradford – The Independent

‘Two brothers have been jailed after they kept their mother and sister as slaves.’

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The Independent, 13th June 2017

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Limitation and the threshold for article 3/8 investigative claims – UK Police Law Blog

Posted June 12th, 2017 in delay, domestic violence, human rights, judges, limitations, news, time limits by sally

‘Lavender J in MLIA & CLEL v Chief Constable of Hampshire [2017] EWHC 292 (QB) has offered helpful guidance on the application of the limitation defence for human rights claims, in a case which failed to meet the threshold for engaging the investigative duty under Articles 3 and 8 of the Convention.’

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UK Police Law Blog, 11th June 2017

Source: ukpolicelawblog.com

R (C) v Islington LBC – Arden Chambers

‘The Administrative Court has held that priority within a housing allocation scheme providing that existing social housing tenants are to be preferred over other applicants, such as the homeless and women fleeing domestic violence, for certain local lettings of eg new and refurbished accommodation was justified and accordingly had not been unlawfully discriminatory for the purposes of art.14 and ss.19, 29 Equality Act 2010; the introduction of the local lettings policies had complied with s.149 Equality Act 2010 and s.11 Children Act 2004; but the operation of a system of direct offers, used particularly to allocate accommodation to homeless applicants, had not been sufficiently set out in the scheme and was accordingly unlawful.’

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Arden Chambers, 31st May 2017

Source: www.ardenchambers.com

FHDRAs: what should and shouldn’t happen – Family Law Week

‘Marie Crawford, barrister of Becket Chambers, considers the orders a court might make at first hearing and dispute resolution appointment.’

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Family Law Week, 9th June 2017

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

Michelle Spencer jailed for murdering partner as they kissed – BBC News

Posted June 9th, 2017 in domestic violence, imprisonment, murder, news, sentencing by sally

‘A mother of two who stabbed her partner to death in “a flash of temper” as they kissed and cuddled has been jailed for at least 13 years.’

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BBC News, 8th June 2017

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Judge agrees natural father should not be given notice of care proceedings – Local Government Lawyer

‘A natural father need not be given a copy of a notice of care proceedings where this would create a risk for the mother, HHJ Bellamy has ruled in the Family Court.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 6th June 2017

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Making it up as you go – Nearly Legal

‘C was accepted for the full housing duty by Islington, with her 3 children, as a result of domestic violence. C is profoundly deaf. She had been living in Southwark, but following the DV, was in refuge in Islington and applied as homeless there. She was, eventually, given 3 bed temporary accommodation in Islington.’

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Nearly Legal, 6th June 2017

Source: nearlylegal.co.uk

Cross examination of abused wife a ‘stain’ on justice system – judge – Law Society’s Gazette

‘A High Court judge has said he will refuse to allow alleged domestic abusers to cross examine their victims in any future hearings he oversees.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 31st May 2017

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Man cleared of murder after cutting wife’s throat during argument – The Guardian

Posted May 31st, 2017 in domestic violence, murder, news by sally

‘A husband has been cleared of murdering his wife after she “flipped like the Hulk” during an argument.’

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The Guardian, 30th May 2017

Source: www.theguardian.com

People who violently attack children to get longer jail terms, Theresa May pledges – Daily Telegraph

‘People who violently attack children will get longer jail terms under a Tory Government, Theresa May will announce today as part a major crackdown.’

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Daily Telegraph, 28th May 2017

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Teenager cleared of manslaughter after killing stepfather with one punch – The Independent

Posted May 17th, 2017 in domestic violence, homicide, news, young persons by sally

‘A teenager who killed his stepfather with a punch to the head has walked free from court.’

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The Independent, 16th May 2017

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Abuse victims ‘failed by police and courts over online harassment’ – The Guardian

‘Police and court action, including the imposition of restraining orders, is failing to prevent domestic abusers and stalkers from carrying on their campaigns of harassment and abuse against their victims online, a unique survey of victims has revealed.’

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The Guardian, 8th May 2017

Source: www.guardian.co.uk