Financial Remedy & Divorce Update, May 2019 – Family Law Week

Posted May 20th, 2019 in divorce, families, financial dispute resolution, news, pensions, reasons by tracey

‘Rose-Marie Drury, Senior Associate, Mills & Reeve LLP analyses the news and case law relating to financial remedies and divorce during April 2019.’

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Family Law Week, 14th May 2019

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

Parents of student who died in suicide over anxiety attacks to sue Bristol University – The Independent

‘The parents of a student who took her own life because she was too anxious to make a public presentation are taking legal action against her university.’

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The Independent, 19th May 2019

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Employment Appeal Tribunal hears appeal from Christian ex-magistrate dismissed over adoption comments – Local Government Lawyer

‘The Employment Appeal Tribunal is this week hearing an appeal from a former magistrate who was removed from the judiciary after he expressed the view that it was in a child’s best interests to be raised by a mother and a father.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 15th May 2019

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Solicitor’s “atrocious” conduct over child contact case condemned – Legal Futures

‘The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) has struck off a solicitor whose conduct in a sensitive child contact case it described as “atrocious”.’

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Legal Futures, 16th May 2019

Source: www.legalfutures.co.uk

MPs call for inquiry into how family courts treat rape and abuse survivors – The Guardian

‘More than 120 MPs have called for the family courts to be opened up to greater scrutiny and for those who father children through rape to be denied parental rights.’

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The Guardian, 15th May 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Lone parents lose benefits cap challenge at supreme court – The Guardian

‘The UK’s highest court has rejected a legal challenge to the benefit cap made by campaigners who argued that it discriminated against single parents with young children.’

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The Guardian, 15th May 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Voices of children overlooked in family courts, says ex-head – BBC News

‘Family courts in England and Wales are not properly accommodating children’s voices and needs because the government has suggested “it would all cost too much”, their former head has said.’

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BBC News, 16th May 2019

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Police take legal action against former officer who had child with activist – The Guardian

‘Police chiefs are taking legal action against one of their former undercover officers who fathered a child during his covert infiltration of leftwing groups and then abandoned him.’

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The Guardian, 14th May 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

New Judgment: R (DA & Ors) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions; R (DS & Ors) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2019] UKSC 21 – UKSC Blog

Posted May 15th, 2019 in appeals, benefits, children, equality, families, news, proportionality, Supreme Court by sally

‘This appeal considered whether the application of the revised benefit cap, introduced by the Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016, s 8, to lone parents with children under two years old (i) unlawfully discriminates against parents and/or the children, contrary to ECHR, art 14 with art 8, and/or art 2 of the First Protocol and in breach of the UK’s international obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, art 3, and/or (ii) is irrelevant.’

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UKSC Blog, 15th May 2019

Source: ukscblog.com

Family President to issue guidance to courts on secure accommodation placements and statutory regime – Local Government Lawyer

‘The President of the Family Division has said he will issue practice guidance to the courts before the end of July so that more can be done to bring secure accommodation placements within the statutory regulatory scheme.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 14th May 2019

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Council makes a mess of Portage – Law Society’s Gazette

Posted May 14th, 2019 in children, education, equality, families, judicial review, local government, news by sally

‘The biblical Esau rashly sold his birthright for ‘a mess of pottage’ (a bowl of lentil stew). But in a rather different context, Worcestershire Council could be said to have made a mess of Portage. For Portage (named after a US town in Wisconsin where the concept originally developed) is a pre-school educational support service (from birth to five-years-old) provided through regular home visits from a trained home visitor. However, on 22 August 2016 the council (through councillor Bayliss, cabinet member with responsibility for children and families) decided to close the Portage scheme from 1 October 2018. This prompted judicial review proceedings in R (RD and others) v Worcestershire County Council [2019] EWHC 449 (Admin), judgment in which was given by Nicklin J on 28 February 2019.’

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Law Society's Gazette, 13th May 2019

Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk

Councils to have statutory duty to deliver support in secure accommodation for survivors of domestic abuse – Local Government Lawyer

‘Councils are to be legally required for the first time to deliver support in secure accommodation for survivors of domestic abuse, the Government has announced.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 13th May 2019

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

Judge reminds councils of importance of following guidance on working with parents with learning disability – Local Government Lawyer

‘A Family Court judge has said it is “imperative” that local authorities follow guidance on working with parents with a learning disability, and expressed “serious reservations” as to whether a borough council did so in a case concerning the welfare of three children.’

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Local Government Lawyer, 8th May 2019

Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk

It felt like Fatal Attraction, says wife stalked by her hedge fund boss husband’s mistress – Daily Telegraph

Posted May 8th, 2019 in families, harassment, internet, news, sentencing, stalking by tracey

‘It was the chilling 1987 blockbuster about a spurned lover who wreaks revenge on a married man by launching a terrifying stalking campaign against him and his family. But when the wife of a hedge fund manager discovered her husband was having an affair – and his jilted mistress began viciously harassing her online – she said it felt like she had walked onto the set of Fatal Attraction.’

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Daily Telegraph, 7th May 2019

Source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Grenfell families call for major changes to inquiry set-up – The Guardian

Posted May 8th, 2019 in accidents, bereavement, families, fire, inquiries, news, victims by tracey

‘Families have called on the public inquiry into the Grenfell fire which killed 72 people to make major changes to its procedures, amid mounting concerns that their voices are not being heard.’

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The Guardian, 8th May 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com

Grenfell Tower inquiry ‘failing to deliver’ as survivors and bereaved families ‘lose faith’, lawyers warn – The Independent

‘The Grenfell Tower inquiry is “failing to deliver” on promises it made to traumatised survivors and the families of victims, who have “lost faith” in the process, lawyers have warned.’

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The Independent, 6th May 2019

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Address by Mr Justice Mostyn to the Hong Kong Family Law Association – Courts and Tribunals Judiciary

Posted May 1st, 2019 in families, family courts, judges, judiciary, speeches by tracey

‘An analysis of the exercise of judicial discretion in the Family Law sphere. Address by Mr Justice Mostyn to the Hong Kong Family Law Association, British Consulate-General, Hong Kong 25 April 2019.’

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Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, 26th April 2019

Source: www.judiciary.uk

Private Lives and Public Sorrows – Family Law Week

‘Hazel Wright, Partner with Hunters Solicitors, highlights three cases which have emphasised the usefulness to family lawyers of the Human Rights Act.’

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Family Law Week, 30th April 2019

Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk

Gosport hospital scandal: Families of victims furious at lack of immediate charges after 21-year fight for justice – The Independent

‘Families whose loved ones were killed in Gosport War Memorial Hospital have expressed their fury at the prospect of enduring a further wait that could last years to learn whether criminal charges are to be brought.’

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The Independent, 30th April 2019

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Iraqi who brought baby to UK wins reprieve from deportation – The Guardian

‘A man who brought his baby niece to Britain in the back of his car from a French refugee camp after she sustained serious burns has had his deportation halted at the last minute by the Home Office.’

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The Guardian, 30th April 2019

Source: www.theguardian.com