Court takes child of ‘stupid’ mother – The Times

Posted June 1st, 2009 in adoption, family courts, learning difficulties, news, parental rights by sally

“When Rachel celebrated her daughter’s third birthday three weeks ago the little girl was a picture of happiness. Yet for her mother it was a bittersweet occasion.”

Full story

The Times, 31st May 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Family courts system accused of hiding evidence from parents – The Times

Posted April 29th, 2009 in data protection, family courts, news, social services by sally

“Parents fighting in the family courts for contact with their children are being denied access to their personal files by a corrupt system, a leading parental rights campaigner has said.”

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The Times, 29th April 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

At last, we go behind the closed doors of family courts – The Times

Posted April 28th, 2009 in family courts, media, news, private hearings by sally

“Yesterday morning I finally walked through a door that used to be marked ‘keep out’. It was an eerie feeling. The guards and clerks at Ipswich County Court were polite, but nervous. One admitted he was a bit shocked by the arrival of two Times journalists. I felt a bit shocked, too — by the banality of the set-up, in contrast to the bitter heartaches it contains.”

Full story

The Times, 28th April 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Justice gets jittery when ‘family court’ doors finally open – The Independent

Posted April 28th, 2009 in family courts, media, news by sally

“The revolution in coverage of the courts has been set back by ‘shambolic’ enforcement of the new rules. Cahal Milmo reports.”

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The Independent, 28th April 2009

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Questions remain as family courts open to press – The Times

Posted April 27th, 2009 in family courts, media, news by sally

“Thousands of family courts are opened to the media for the first time today, amid fears that stringent reporting restrictions will make a mockery of the reform.”

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The Times, 27th April 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Revealed: The Human Cost of Proposed Cuts to Family Legal Aid Dossier of Case Studies Submitted to Ministers – The Bar Council

Posted April 24th, 2009 in family courts, legal aid, press releases by sally

“The potential human cost of denying vulnerable families and children access to expert legal support in care and related cases is revealed today in a dossier of case studies, which shows the difficulties which are already being encountered by family barristers as they seek to represent their clients to the best of their abilities.”

Full press release

The Bar Council, 21st April 2009

Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk

The media in divorce courts – a blackmailers’ charter – The Times

Posted April 23rd, 2009 in divorce, family courts, media, news by sally

“Two family lawyers assess the impact of new rules allowing the media the right to attend all divorce court hearings.”

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The Times, 23rd April 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Family courts: now we can judge parents’ stories for ourselves – The Times

Posted April 23rd, 2009 in family courts, media, news by sally

“The opening up of family courts to the media is a step in the right direction, argues a senior family lawyer.”

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The Times, 23rd April 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

‘Families risk losing children’ under £6.5m legal aid cuts – The Times

Posted April 15th, 2009 in family courts, legal aid, news by sally

“Parents accused of abuse who risk losing their children may be forced to represent themselves in court under proposed cuts to family legal aid, judges and lawyers have warned.”

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The Times, 15th April 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Barrister Belle Turner says she can’t work at new legal aid rates – The Times

Posted April 15th, 2009 in family courts, legal aid, news by sally

“Belle Turner, a leading junior barrister about to give birth to her first child, is ‘sad and angry’ about the planned cuts to family legal aid.”

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The Times, 15th April 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

When the stakes are so high, parents want to be heard – The Times

Posted April 14th, 2009 in family courts, media, news by sally

“The detail of the Ministry of Justice reforms, published this week, makes clear for the first time that although the family courts will be opened to the press on April 27, they will not be quite as open as we had expected. Buried in a short paragraph is the information that judges will have wide grounds to refuse journalists permission to publish the details of a case they have just heard.”

Full story

The Times, 10th April 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Openness of family courts is a ‘con trick’ – The Times

Posted April 14th, 2009 in family courts, media, news by sally

“Jack Straw has been accused of a confidence trick over plans to open the family courts to the media.”

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The Times, 10th April 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Family courts open to media but not bloggers – The Times

Posted April 7th, 2009 in family courts, media, news by sally

“Thousands of family hearings that take place behind closed doors will be opened to media this month, Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, said yesterday.”

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The Times, 7th April 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Family courts: the poor and most vulnerable are paying dearly – The Times

Posted March 26th, 2009 in family courts, news by sally

“Happily most people will never meet a family law barrister professionally. Those who do, however, will almost certainly be at a time of great crisis in their life. From an acrimonious breakdown of a marriage or civil partnership to the State intervening to remove children who medical or social work professionals believe (rightly or wrongly) to have been abused, any family from any background may find themselves litigating before the family courts. I remember one week when I represented both a prostitute and a peer of the realm (not, on this occasion, in the same case).”

Full story

The Times, 25th March 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Senior judge warns that changes will not open up family courts – The Times

Posted March 25th, 2009 in family courts, media, news by sally

“Ministers’ plans to open the family courts to the media have been hailed as a signifiant reform. But is all as it seems? The proposals are coming under fire — and not just from disgruntled members of the public who will still be denied access to the hearings. ”

Full story

The Times, 24th March 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Children’s lawyers and NSPCC renew calls for inquiry into access to family justice – The Bar Council

Posted March 17th, 2009 in family courts, legal aid, news by sally

“Lawyers acting for vulnerable children and families have today joined forces with the leading children’s charity, the NSPCC, to call for a Parliamentary inquiry into the state of the family justice system.”

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The Bar Council, 16th March 2009

Source: www.barcouncil.org.uk

Plans for more cuts to legal aid put families ‘at risk’ – The Times

Posted March 12th, 2009 in barristers, family courts, legal aid, news by sally

“Several hundred angry barristers met in London last weekend and another 250 joined the meeting by video link from throughout England and Wales. They endorsed a resolution warning that ‘the public interest demands that family legal aid is funded at a level which ensures quality advocacy for all clients; further cuts to the fund will put families (particularly vulnerable families) and children at grave risk’.”

Full story

The Times, 12th March 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

Vulnerable women and children bear brunt of cuts in family justice system – The Bar Council

Posted March 9th, 2009 in family courts, news by sally

“Expert family barristers are being driven away from their work to represent the interests of vulnerable women and children as a result of repeated cuts in legal aid pay, a new report says.”

Full story

The Bar Council, 9th March 2009

Source: www.barcouncil.org

Women and children ‘at risk as family courts reach breaking point’ – The Times

Posted March 6th, 2009 in family courts, news by sally

“The family courts system is at ‘breaking point’ and thousands of vulnerable women and children at risk of abuse are going without legal help, according to a report.”

Full story 

The Times, 6th March 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk

New war of words over family legal aid cuts – The Times

Posted February 17th, 2009 in family courts, legal aid, news by sally

“With widespread job cuts and a recession in full swing, the news is hardly front page — but fresh hostilities have broken out over cuts to legal aid.”

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The Times, 16th February 2009

Source: www.timesonline.co.uk