Litigants in Person – Smooth on the outside crunchy on the inside

Litigants in Person are a lot like armadillos. I know this: I’ve written a book about them (Litigants in Person not armadillos). Although, unlike Harry Enfield, I’ve found them sometimes to be a bit more spiky than smooth. But I’ve been thinking about the internal bit a lot lately, because I think it’s the key [...]

Absolutely Transparent

Transparency in family justice is an issue that cannot be swept under the carpet – it ain’t going away. This week Christopher Booker wrote a piece in the Telegraph (bluntly titled “Australia’s scandal of forced adoption is happening here in Britain“) in which he drew a parallel between the forced adoptions in Australia, for which Prime [...]

See Through Justice

Transparency is edging closer. After the Childrens Schools and Families Act 2010 fiasco (provisions reforming privacy in family proceedings which were much criticised, never brought into force and finally repealed by the Legal Aid Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012), we’ve been left with the small step introduced in 2010 that was allowing reporters [...]

Frontline cuts in Cafcass……just one big question to answer

This is a guest blog post written by Ian Merry. Ian is a qualified and registered social worker who washed up on Cafcass’ shore in 2007 as a Family Support Worker in the Newcastle upon Tyne region. Prior to this he worked with vulnerable children and young people for over 37 years. Ian found the direct work [...]

Family Justice Narratives : No. 5

This is the fifth of the Family Justice Narratives. You can find out what the Family Justice Narratives are all about and how to get involved here. NARRATIVE NO 5 : Anonymous Advice Worker The questions: Tell us where you fit in (solicitor, barrister, social worker, guardian, judge, researcher, court staff, something else) Tell us about your [...]

Family Justice Narratives : No. 4

This is the fourth of the Family Justice Narratives. You can find out what the Family Justice Narratives are all about and how to get involved here. NARRATIVE NO 4 : Anonymous Guardian   Naturally, it has taken some time to get down to writing this, despite my best intentions. It’s an excellent idea and I look [...]

Family Justice Narratives : No. 3

This is the third of the Family Justice Narratives. You can find out what the Family Justice Narratives are all about and how to get involved here. NARRATIVE NO 3 : ANONYMOUS PROVINCIAL BARRISTER Tell us where you fit in (solicitor, barrister, social worker, guardian, judge, researcher, court staff, something else) I’m a Barrister. It’s a job [...]

Family Justice Narratives : No. 2

This is the second of the Family Justice Narratives. You can find out what the Family Justice Narratives are all about and how to get involved here. Narrative No 2 : ANONYMOUS SOCIAL WORKER Tell us where you fit in (solicitor, barrister, social worker, guardian, judge, researcher, court staff, something else) I’m a Social Worker (not that [...]

Litigants in Person – some numbers

A while ago I made a Freedom of Information Act request to get some stats from the court service about litigants in person in private law matters. The request and the response I received can be found here, and my summary of the figures is here. It shows the position as at end Jun 2011. [...]

Family Justice Narratives: No. 1

This is the first in the Family Justice Narratives. You can find out what the Family Justice Narratives are all about and how to get involved here. Narrative No 1 : ANONYMOUS SOLICITOR I’ve been a solicitor since 1988 and worked for the same firm throughout and always in family law. This week was exhausting but [...]