The judge made a care order – an order which was not open to her in law. It had been made applying the wrong statutory principles and without carrying out the proportionality assessment stipulated by case law. M had five children and appealed the care order in respect of her baby (J). This is a …
Continue reading “Adoption – care orders”
The procedure for requests for clarification following a ruling is being misused – it is intended only to avoid unnecessary appeals being launched on grounds of absence of reasons. In this case, the LA appealed findings made in care proceedings. The LA had raised several requests for clarification, the scale of which the CA described …
Continue reading “Findings of fact – clarification of reasons”
F appealed an order allowing M to withhold relevant evidence from him in private law family proceedings. The proceedings involved two children, aged 12 and 8, who had been staying with F for six nights a fortnight and half of the school holidays. He now wanted parity and a shared live-with order. However, M argued …
Continue reading “Private children proceedings – disclosure”
This is a prescient case of a type that family practitioners are likely to see more of in the coming months. F lived in Ukraine and applied for an order under s8 CA 1989 that the children, 16 and 11, be allowed to go to Ukraine to visit him over Easter or the summer holidays …
Continue reading “Contact order – Ukraine”
The fact that an LA has brought CA 1989 Part IV proceedings does not, by itself, give it or the court licence to intervene in every aspect of a child’s life. In this case, the LA concerned failed in its bid for an order for DNA testing and a declaration of parentage in the course …
Continue reading “Care proceedings – declarations of parentage”
The court expects those involved in family proceedings, whether the case concerns money or children, to make a ‘serious effort’ to resolve their differences before proceedings are issued. In a case involving assets valued at up to £29m, Knowles J also made clear in her ruling that this expectation continues ‘at any stage of the …
Continue reading “Mediation – costs; court expectations”
Giving judgment in Re X (see previous entry) Knowles J noted the upcoming changes to the FPR 2010 (which are in force from 29 April 2024) ‘will give an added impetus to the court’s duty in this regard’. The amendments to Part 3 FPR in relation to MIAMs and non-court dispute resolution are introduced under …
Continue reading “Procedure – mediation”
In this article, family barrister Nick Brown from St Philips Chambers, Birmingham comments on the issue of threshold findings in care proceedings and the criminal standard of proof. He writes in light of a 2023 family court ruling following an application to reopen findings of fact. In 2016 HHJ Orrell found ‘to the criminal standard’ …
Continue reading “Care proceedings – fact findings”
The behaviour of both parents in relation to their young daughter (now seven) amounted to ‘sexual abuse’ – even though it was ‘non-contact’ sexual abuse. The CA has stated that ‘non-contact’ sexual abuse may be no less pernicious than ‘contact’ sexual abuse. M unsuccessfully appealed the finding of ‘sexual abuse’ following the final hearing in …
Continue reading “Fact-finding – sexual abuse”
H issued divorce proceedings in Monaco in February 2022; W issued her petition in London in September 2022. The question was where proceedings should take place, with issues around domicile, residence and jurisdiction. H had launched a fault-based divorce procedure in Monaco under Article 197 of its Civil Code (several experts gave evidence that this …
Continue reading “Procedure – stay of proceedings; residence”