I have been modernised…

This week I attended a lecture by our new Designated Family Judge here in Bristol, His Honour Judge Wildblood QC, to inform the legal community about modernisation, the new PLO and how things will be in the new world order. Although some of the lecture dealt with local approach to particular issues, the majority of [...]

A Little Local Practice

“Local Practice” used to be a term issued with a sneer by London counsel, lording it about how parochial sticks-based courts were (in truth I may be guilty of muttering it under my breath myself occasionally when I appear in an unfamiliar court that appears to have had an article 6 bypass). However, Local Practice [...]

Family Justice Modernisation Programme Update No. Nine and Three Quarters

This press release just in from Mr Justice Schrodinger, Family Justice Modernisator: Family Justice Modernisation Programme Update No 9 3/4  I am pleased to announce that, in furtherance of the prime objective of efficiency and pace, all care cases issued after 1 January 2013 will be cascaded through the new algorithmic family justice hyper-rationalisation drive, [...]

On a Rydering to Nothing

I don’t know what that post title means but I’m running out of Ryder related puns. And I’m functioning in a haze of lemsip and Haagen Dazs, and my brain is fried from straining to follow Alistair Macdonald QC dismantle the paramountcy principle whilst running a slight fever. Gosh, the ALC Conference has been fun [...]

Ryder’s Rider

I’m confuserated. First of all the ALC website reported Ryder’s apparent acknowledgment at the NAGALRO conference that the 26 week limit was only currently achievable in about 30% of cases. And then it disappeared. Except of course you can’t disappear something you’ve published on the internet “juslikethat”, Tommy Cooper stylee. Family Law Week had already [...]

As one door closes another opens

You might have presumed I would have done my consultation response on shared parenting ages ago. But that starting point would have been the wrong starting point. Had you taken all the circumstances into account it was not safe to assume that I would do so, because although it was likely I would have had [...]

The Pathwaye of the Errant Knight Ryder

Oh. Just ignore the title. It’s silly. But on second thoughts…Let’s run with it. The Pathwaye of the Errant Knight Ryder – An Epic Pome After many arduous stanzas depicting adventures across faerieland our brave virtuous hero Sir Ryder thunders up the pathway on his stallion Tonto, brings him to a dusty snorting halt, unfurls [...]

Are you sure about this shared parenting malarky?

So Alan Beith, Chair of the Justice Select Committee and government advisor, has written to David Cameron asking him to reconsider government policy on shared parenting. The letter, sent last week to the PM, the Secretary of State for Justice, the Minister of State for Children and Families, and to the Parliamentary-Under Secretaries of State for [...]

We Never Expected The Ryder Inquisition

Well, we sort of did. But now we have it. Amongst so many other blessings we can look forward to a Statement of Inquisitorial Intent. You can read all abart it in the Gazette here, or you can read it from the Inquisitor’s mouth in the form of his Sixth Update. He’s got one more [...]

As One Door Closes…

As the consultation on same sex marriage closes another opens : shared parenting. We just can’t agree about anything to do with the shape of families, can we? Thankfully, @suesspiciousmin has been swift in summarising the consultation on shared parenting in his post (Co-op (Good with Kids) on the Suesspicious Minds blog - say it in a [...]