A serious topic Are family courts biased? First of all, apologies if you feel that the title of this post is somewhat flippant. I do understand that this is a serious topic and that many people have very strong feelings upon it. In both directions. But I still feel that the title is appropriate, as […] More
My choices for the top family law news stories of the week: President makes damning findings against the ruler of Dubai The President of the Family Division Sir Andrew McFarlane has made damning findings against the ruler of Dubai, in the course of ongoing proceedings relating to the welfare of two of his children. In […] More
Divorce Bill: Continuing my look at the highlights of the recent committee stage debate of the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill on the House of Lords: When should the 20 week period begin? The next proposed amendment I want to look at was moved by Lord Farmer and is one that I believe I may […] More
On the 3rd of March the Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Bill, which aims to bring in a system of no-fault divorce, went through its committee stage in the House of Lords. The debate was quite lengthy, commencing at 4.11 pm and ending at 9.33 pm, and covered a lot of ground. Obviously, I cannot go through it all in detail here, […] More
Three stories this week: one not as significant as some have indicated, and two that are very significant. The wife who “sacrificed” career for marriage awarded compensation A wife who “sacrificed” her career as a solicitor so that she could look after her children has been awarded £400,000 compensation as part of a financial remedies award. The wife had met the husband at a law […] More
After a busy week last week, the family law news this week has been rather thin. I did, however, come up with two stories: Training for Judges The judiciary has announced new training for judges, responding to concerns about the attitude of judges towards the issue of sexual consent. The concerns arose from a recent […] More
This week in family law it’s all about Cafcass statistics, Islamic marriage and more… Cafcass statistics The latest figures for public law (including care) applications and private law demand, for December 2019, have been published by Cafcass. In that month the service received a total of 1,541 new public law applications (involving 2,417 children), 91 […] More
A time for reflection The past and future of family law: It seems to be a time for judicial and other reflection upon the history of our family justice system. Only in December, I wrote here about a speech by the President of the Family Division Sir Andrew McFarlane, in which he looked back at […] More
