Pink Tape

a blog from the family bar

Doing Violence to Legal Aid

I’ve noticed another teensy glitch in the grand plans to save money through what has now become fondly known as “the LASPO car crash“. And it’s this: Respondents to non-molestation orders (harassment / domestic violence injunctions) rarely qualify for legal aid. The rationale is that such use of public funds is not justifiable where they [...]

Pink Tapeworm (A bog post)

No matter how furiously I work I’m still up to my eyeballs in busy. It’s like having a horological tapeworm (a side effect of which is a tendency to extravagantly surreal yet poor metaphors). So posts have been a little sparse around these parts of late. Life at the bar, and particularly the family bar [...]

Clare’s Law

Today the Guardian published a piece I wrote about the proposed Clare’s Law. You can read it here: Why Clare’s Law won’t prevent domestic violence  You might also like to read a rather more eloquent discussion of the same topic by Libby Brooks, also in the Guardian: ‘Clare’s law’ offers nothing but empty empowerment  Still haven’t [...]

Headdesk

Martin Comport of Dale & Dale solicitors writes in the Law Society Gazette, in the course of a complaint that the Law Society are using funds to campaign in support of legal aid, that “Perhaps a test [for legal aid] should be: ‘If this was my money would I spend it on this litigation?’ Perhaps [...]

Perspective

There are many tales of woe on this blog about how the law treats families. But however bad things are over here, it could be worse. This article about a frankly horrendous state of affairs in the US is an upsetting reminder of that very point. It strikes me that any pregnant 15 year old [...]

Success is all in my mind

Bit busy at the moment. But here’s a few things to keep you occupied: Slightly belated news that the Justice Select Committee has published it’s report on the Operation of the Family Courts. Scroll down to paragraph 239 and you will find a quote from Lucy Reed, author of Family Courts without a Lawyer – [...]

The Narey Report: A Blueprint for the nation’s lost children?

The Narey Report was published early last week (5 July). You may not have read it because, unusually for a report which purports to be signally important in the development of government policy on matters of such public interest and importance as the permanent severing of the child : parent relationship, it is behind a [...]

Guest blog Post: Hunger 4 Justice

The post that follows is a guest blog post by Nick Langford. Nick is a regular commenter on this blog. He and I have disagreed about many things in the comments threads, but always (I think) in respectful if robust language. I am happy to extend the opportunity to Nick to write a one off [...]

Hurrah for independent Guardians

A County Council v K & Ors (By the Child’s Guardian Ht) [2011] EWHC 1672 (Fam) I have not had the chance to fully read this judgment, but this case appears to be an astonishing rebuke to CAFCASS’ bureaucratic, authoritarian managerial approach, and firmly reminds them of the need to allow Guardian’s to exercise their [...]

Verbal Abuse

From time to time I get an email from bestdatingsites.org suggesting kindly that I might like to link to an article on their website. I was recently sent an email inviting me to link to a post entitled 10 Signs of Verbal Abuse in a Relationship. Forgive me for being churlish, but shouting, swearing and [...]

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  • About

    A blog in which I ricochet from too serious to too flippant, and alternate between a bit clever, a bit interesting and a bit ranty: Pink Tape neatly functions as both a blog about family law and a therapeutic escape valve for me. >>more




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