I was recently asked to consider a case involving a 16 year old child in local authority care, following fears of child sexual exploitation. The local authority wanted to apply to the court for permission to put ‘spyware’ on the child’s mobile phone, in order to monitor any conversations the child was having with those […]
London Borough of Hackney v P and Ors [2022] EWHC 1981 (Fam) Judgment was handed down by Mr Justice MacDonald on 29th July 2022. This case concerned a 12 year old girl who was born and lived in France until her mother’s death in 2017 when she moved to Tunisia in the care of her paternal […]
We have oppressive system that purports to be about child protection – but parents and children are frightened of us #cpchange2016 — CPResource (@C_P_Resource) February 19, 2016 We all know the care system isn’t working. Conference after conference, review after review over the last 20 years tells us so. In 2014 I helped to set […]
Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum v Princess Haya [2022] EWFC 16 This is an interesting case. Although it is clearly ‘highly unusual’ for the family courts to find themselves dealing with foreign princes this case represents further exploration of how an individual’s wish to correct a false narrative can be used to argue against the default […]
This is a post by Sarah Phillimore. TL:DR – there is clearly a need for a shift in culture and an attempt to better balance the need for children’s privacy against the need for public trust and confidence in the system. This shift will only occur however if is properly resourced – simple exhortations to […]
The Speech of Sir Andrew McFarlane President of the Family Division FLBA National Conference: Manchester 16th October 2021 This is a post by Sarah Phillimore. It is of course an ancient Chinese curse ‘may you live in interesting times’ and thus an intriguing title for this address, which you can read in full here. I […]
The Court of Appeal decision in the Bell v Tavistock case. This is a post by Sarah Phillimore. I will be discussing these issues at a webinar organised by EBSWA on September 30th. Please join us. Summary Over recent years, considerable debate has arisen over the consequences of medical intervention which aims to allow ‘gender […]
This is a post by Sarah Phillimore Am I a ‘troll’ or a ‘leading professional’? The answer seems to depend on whether or not I am agreeing with someone’s particular narrative at a particular time, rather than on the quality of my arguments and the state of my evidence. I have been distracted from the […]
Re W and Re Z (EU Settled Status for Looked After Children) [2021] EWHC 783 (Fam) This is an interesting decision which looks closely at the ambit of section 33 of the Children Act 1989 and how local authorities may exercise PR for children subject to care orders. It concludes that there are only a small […]
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 […]