Child Care Negligence

Just a signpost to a useful summary of the legal position regarding negligence claims against local authorities / social workers in relation to child protection matters, recently published on the Community Care website.

Permission Plus

Family Lore has alerted me to this curious decision of Lord Justice Wall on permission (RW v SW [2010] EWCA Civ 457 (29 April 2010)). Wall LJ adjourned off a father’s application for permission to appeal to a two judge court notwithstanding the fact that his own view was that the appeal had no reasonable [...]

Weebles Wobble But They Don’t Fall Down

I’m used to being kicked discreetly by my solicitor when I say something stupid in court (joke) but I have other distractions at the moment, such as a lack of anywhere to expand my lungs, a foot lodged under my ribs and the constant need that clients and opponents currently have to double check ‘you’re [...]

Swine Sue

A father in Jersey has issued an action against his ex-wife to compel her to give their healthy 9 year old the swine flu jab, reports the Telegraph. What’s the greater risk – swine flu or parents who resolve every dispute by way of litigation? There’s no innoculation to protect against the harmful effects of [...]

Radio 4 Reports on CAFCASS Crisis

PM today ran a piece on the Crisis at CAFCASS, inolving comically disguised voices of Guardian’s and a teeny but undisguised snippet from yours truly. Sad that CAFCASS employee’s feel unable to identify themselves without repurcussions. It does not speak of a happy working environment. Listen here on BBC iplayer for another 7 days – it [...]

CAFCASS Judicial Review

Well, it had to happen sooner or later. I’m only surprised it wasn’t sooner – mutterings about this petered out some months ago on the issue of the President’s interim Guidance on managing the CAFCASS crisis. But now a firm of solicitors acting for a child involved in proceedings have secured public funding to launch [...]

Occupation Orders

Family Law Week publishes an interesting article this week on the recent case of Grubb v Grubb which concerns an appeal against the granting of an occupation order ousting a husband from the matrimonial home. The article appears here and the transcript here. I am going to take a slightly different slant on that case [...]

Mother Acquitted of Shaking Baby to Apply to Discharge Care Orders

Fatimah Miah is a mother recently acquitted of the charge of manslaughter in relation to her baby son who died in May 2007. The Telegraph reports here that she is to make an application to the High Court for the return of the baby’s three siblings who are now in care. . Of course the [...]

Who’s the boss?

Hillary Clinton’s totally understandable response to being asked at a press conference in her capacity as Secretary of State has provoked reporting about her ‘extraordinary outburst’ (e.g. The Times). What’s extraordinary about it other than the fact that most government figures would not expect to be asked for their spouses views on an important matter rather than their own? It [...]

Trustee in Bankruptcy has 3 Year Window

I have not had time to read the full report of this case reported last week in The Times: Lewis and Another v Metropolitan Property Realisations Ltd (Court of Appeal, July 15 2009), but it is certainly going to be worth a look both for families concerned about losing their home and ex-(or soon to [...]