Neutral Citation Number: [2021] EWCA Civ 448 Re H-N and Others (children) (domestic abuse: finding of fact hearings) This is a post by Sarah Phillimore. This is a useful judgment setting out comprehensively and clearly the historical evolution of the family court approach to issues of domestic abuse and offering useful pointers for how such […]
This post began as a talk I gave for White Paper Conferences in February 2021 looking at the complex issues, both legal and practical, around deprivation of liberty orders for children of all ages. I will continue to update it. The importance of freedom of movement. Your freedom to come and go as you wish […]
This is the text of a talk I gave at a Stowe Family Law Webinar on 24th February 2021. I discussed the often stark polarising views about parental alienation and how parents can attempt to navigate the court system. I stress that I am NOT talking about cases were one parent has been found to […]
This was issued in December 2020. I will be interested to see how this pans out. There are rather too many vague statements of intent: “to ensure the most vulnerable children and families are prioritised and the future system is designed around their needs” “All reform in this area must continue to have the best […]
A ‘fact finding hearing’ does what it says on the tin. It’s the way in which the civil courts attempt to find out what happened when people disagree about the facts. Or, to be more accurate, it ‘finds’ facts on the balance of probabilities, which is the civil standard of proof. So if the Judge […]
This is the text of a talk given to Bath Resolution on November 3rd 2020. It is time to take stock about where we are now with ‘parental alienation’. Sadly, in so many areas of life and law, our ‘public debate’ appears to descend into pushing and shoving between two distinctly opposed groups. I have […]
This is a post by Sarah Phillimore I am writing this post because I am concerned that there is a strong view in certain circles that ‘parental alienation’ either does not exist or is very rare and used as a deliberate strategy by violent men to deny contact with children to the mothers they oppress. […]
Final Report of the Ministry of Justice 2020 In May 2019 a ‘3 month inquiry’ into issues of domestic abuse and applications to court about children, was announced by the Ministry of Justice. I expressed considerable scepticism at the time, not least scoffing about the wholly unrealistic timescales proposed. In that at least I can […]
This is a post by Sarah Phillimore. I was interested to read the decision of Re S (Parental Alienation: Cult), a judgment handed down on April 29th 2020. It covers so much of what has been interesting and challenging for me throughout my career. The damage that even loving parents can do to their children, […]
This is a talk delivered by Sarah Phillimore at the Families Need Fathers conference in London on September 14th 2019 The abstract concept of ‘Justice’ is often portrayed as the Greek goddess Themis, usually depicted holding a sword and scales. This represents her ability to cut fact from fiction with no middle ground and the […]