Blog
Remote hearings: a gulf between lawyers and lay parties?
In the last two weeks, the family justice system has been plunged into the deep end. Family lawyers, judges and court staff have been grappling with varied forms of technology to transition cases online as quickly as possible during the coronavirus crisis. Inevitably,...
Remote justice: a family perspective
This is a guest post by Celia Kitzinger, co-director of the Coma and Disorders of Consciousness Research Centre and Honorary Professor, Cardiff University School of Law and Politics. She tweets as @KitzingerCelia The judgment in this Court of Protection case was...
Covid-19, the UK’s Coronavirus Bill and emergency ‘remote’ court hearings: what does it mean for open justice?
NB An updated version of this post now appears at Judith's own blog here. There will be an increasing use of ‘remote hearings’ in the courts in England and Wales in coming weeks and months, under existing law, and if extended provisions in the emergency Coronavirus...
Child arrangements and shared care during the corona outbreak
We don't give legal advice at The Transparency Project, but we know lots of parents are worried about whether or not they can see their children or send them to the other parent. As of late last night the government guidance is clear that the exclusions to the 'stay...
COVID-19 and family courts: Links in one place to new arrangements
Updated 1 April 2020 at 7pm There's been a flurry of new guidance in response to the pandemic. We’ve gathered some useful links (with key definitions) to help families, advice workers and professionals find and use practical information more easily. More guidance is...
The “Secret” Family Court: Fact or Fiction? Free launch webinar
The Secret Family Court: Fact or Fiction? is available now in both print and digital editions. UPDATE: 30 March. The recorded webinar is now online and freely available to view here. To mark publication of this timely, important book by Transparency Project Patron...
The President’s guidance for the Family Court on Covid 19
The President, Sir Andrew McFarlane, has issued the following national guidance and asked that it be shared widely: SIR ANDREW MCFARLANE PRESIDENT OF THE FAMILY DIVISION AND HEAD OF FAMILY JUSTICE COVID 19: National Guidance for the Family Court 19th...
Secret babies – non-notification of dads and extended families
Last year, we wrote a post about non-notification of fathers about family court applications where there was a history of violence or abuse, in particular where a child had been conceived of rape (See : When should I apply for permission not to notify a father about a...
“In the battle between the parents both children risk being run over by the tanks”
This judgment, startlingly, comprises 500 paragraphs, although with a helpful List of Contents added by HHJ Dancey, at Bournemouth Family Court. The case is called JD and another v VB and others [2020] EWFC 16. The judge’s opening paragraphs [1-4] grab attention: “In...
How technology almost thwarted the family courts again (Z (A Child: committal proceeding))
Z (A Child: committal proceeding) [2020] EWFC B5 (24 January 2020) concerned committal proceedings (i.e. proceedings about whether a party should be sent to prison) within a broader private law dispute between two parents over their child, ‘Z’. Father...