Washed up and hung out to air in public

Further to my previous post on the passing of the Children Schools & Families Act 2010, The Times has published an article about the new provisions which is spot on: it identifies – importantly – that the new law, when it is brought into force, will in fact be more restrictive than the existing privacy rules covering [...]

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 [...]

Social Workers: Arrogant and Enthusiastic Removers of Vegetarians?

I’m a bit slow off the mark this week but I do want to report this: Lord Justice Wall has been widely reported as criticising social workers for being “arrogant and enthusiastic removers of children from their parents”. It doesn’t look as if he will be a wallflower of a President, does it? . In [...]

Wall LJ to be Appointed President of Family Division

Further to my previous post Lord Justice Wall is indeed to be appointed as President of the Family Division, taking over from Mark Potter on a date yet to be confirmed. POSTSCRIPT: See this extract from Hansard for no explanation at all regarding the delay in the announcement (hat tip to Brick, whose comment on [...]

Tear Down The Wall…

Charon QC is right. I have to comment on Jack Straw’s apparent reluctance to appoint Lord Justice Wall as the new President of the Family Division, reported on here by The Times. It is difficult to think of any reason for Mr Straw’s request that the appointment panel reconsider other than Wall LJ’s willingness to [...]

Well – DUUR!!

News just in from the FLBA: The Report from Francis Plowden – the Review of Court Fees in Child Care Proceedings – was published yesterday. Francis Plowden recommends (unsurprisingly?) abolition of fees for Local Authorities bringing child care proceedings. The Government has accepted this recommendation, and will implement it in April 2011 alongside the next three-year funding settlement [...]

Reformed Meat

So the Government has published its Families & Relationships Green Paper in which it proposes a fundamental review of the Family Justice System and a number of other reforms. Like John Bolch at Family Lore I’m not sure what this really adds up to. There are a number of press releases from the relevant departments: [...]

Hello – Do you COPY?

Green ink alert! . Maybe its just the slight irritability that comes with having been up all night with Braxton Hicks contractions, or maybe it’s a legitimate gripe. But why is it that Her Maj’s Court Service increasingly expects counsel to stay at court – without payment – drafting orders which by rights should be [...]