Blog
“I hurt you because I love you” – what did TV’s Silent Witness get right and wrong about the treatment of domestic violence in the family courts?
No one is ever going to give the BBC TV show Silent Witness any prizes for being particularly factually accurate (what do you MEAN forensic pathologists don’t actually run around solving crimes!?). But who cares, right? It’s good, dramatic telly. That was all well and...
Behind Closed Doors – ‘Best Interests’ review
Here is a story, based on reality. Esti is a Charedi woman, a member of a small, tight-knit group at the very religious end of Judaism. The mother of three children, she is left by her husband Yossi. After separation he becomes less observant, letting the children...
Legal divorce and amicable ancillaries
Once, back when I was a full-time solicitor, I was telephoned for a divorce by a nice married couple. They were sitting at the kitchen table in one of their houses, having been separated for a number of years and each was happily living with a new partner. They were...
That judgment and what people have said about it…
This week saw the publication of a judgment by Ms Justice Russell, dealing with an appeal from His Honour Judge Tolson (JH v MF [2020] EWHC 86 (Fam)). It concerned serious problems with how the judge had handled allegations of rape and domestic abuse, in...
“No” means No. – JH v MF
This is a guest post by Alexandra Wilson, barrister at 5 St Andrews Hill Chambers. Warning: Please note that quotations from this judgment contain some descriptions of sexual assault and rape. This case, JH v MF [2020] EWHC 86 (Fam) was an appeal from the Central...
Sibling relationships in the care system
This is a guest post by Alexandra Wilson, barrister at 5 St Andrews Hill Chambers. Warning: Please note that quotations from this judgment contain some descriptions of sexual assault and rape. This case, JH v MF [2020] EWHC 86 (Fam) was an appeal from the Central...
Losing Hope – Soaps and child protection storylines
This is a first post by Alexandra Wilson. Alexandra is a barrister specialising in Family and Criminal law at 5 St Andrew’s Hill. She tweets as @EssexBarrister. A recent podcast on BBC sounds by ‘File on 4’ focused on separated siblings in the care system. One...
Big news : more live streaming of court hearings – good news or not?
This is a first post by Jack Harrison. Jack is a practising barrister at 18 St. John Street in Manchester and specialises in child law. He tweets as @JackHarrison. Broadcasters have tremendous power when it comes to influencing public perceptions of the justice...
One appeal, Two Bakers and Three tries at a fact finding
This week has seen news that the Crown Court is to begin to live stream sentencing remarks. Hot on the heels of that announcement came reports that the Court of Appeal will soon begin to live stream appeals in some family cases. There has been quite a lot of coverage...
Behind Closed Doors – BBC Radio 4’s legal drama
In D (Fact-finding appeal) [2019] EWCA Civ 2302 (20 December 2019) Lord Justice Baker gives the lead judgment concerning an appeal from His Honour Judge Baker. The upshot is that, the question of the child's injuries having been the subject of two attempts at fact...