‘Judith Pepper has delivered presentations with Professor Daniel Monk to the Judicial College on the issue of siblings in care proceedings and adoption.’
Family Law Week, 26th February 2020
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
‘In the following two cases, the High Court grappled with questions concerning the welfare of vulnerable older children who lack capacity and the cross-cutting jurisdictions of the Children Act, the Inherent Jurisdiction of the High Court, and the Court of Protection.’
Garden Court Chambers, 20th February 2020
Source: www.gardencourtchambers.co.uk
‘In this unusual case, Re W (A child: leave to oppose adoption) [2020] EWCA (Civ) 16, the Court of Appeal has given birth parents leave to oppose an adoption order being made. The child is nearly three years old and has been living with his prospective adopters since he was aged 17 months, in November 2018, after care and placement orders had been made in March of that year. He has never lived with his parents and has not had any contact with them since October 2018.’
Transparency Project, 23rd February 2020
Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk
‘The appellant is the great-aunt of J, a child who was the focus of care proceedings that began in 2017. J’s mother accepted early on that she could not care for him and the proceedings focused on assessment of his great-aunt instead. Throughout the care proceedings the great-aunt was unrepresented (and for most of it, not a party). She is a formidable woman.’
Transparency Project, 13th February 2020
Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk
‘The government is set to ban the placement of children in care under the age of 16 in unregulated homes in England, following a BBC investigation.’
BBC News, 12th February 2020
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
‘The Court of Appeal has ordered a local authority to make a contribution of £12,000 towards the costs of a great-aunt who won an appeal from care and placement orders made by a judge at the conclusion of proceedings concerning a two-year-old boy, J.’
Local Government Lawyer, 10th February 2020
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Shiva Ancliffe reviews the law relating to the determination of whether a child should be separately represented in proceedings.’
Family Law Week, 2nd February 2020
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
‘Shiva Ancliffe reviews the law relating to the determination of whether a child should be separately represented in proceedings.’
Family Law Week, 3rd February 2020
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
‘In A (Fact-Finding), HHJ Clayton strongly criticised, and awarded costs against, a local authority and Clinical Commissioning Group after their pursuit of a fundamentally flawed approach to the best interests of P, a young man with a severe global delay, who was unable to communicate verbally.’
Doughty Street Chambers, 20th January 2020
Source: insights.doughtystreet.co.uk
A recent podcast on BBC sounds by ‘File on 4’ focused on separated siblings in the care system.
One of the stories is from a woman who explains that she was split from her sister and wasn’t allowed to see her despite her living just five minutes away. She recalls that between their respective foster families’ homes there was a park where she would see her younger sister playing with her foster sister. Breaking down into tears, she explains that she felt hurt, angry, annoyed, sad and “thought it was really, really cruel”.
5 SAH, 20th January 2020
Source: www.5sah.co.uk
‘A recent podcast on BBC sounds by ‘File on 4’ focused on separated siblings in the care system.’
Transparency Project, 19th January 2020
Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk
‘John Tughan QC of 4 Paper Buildings reviews recent important public law cases concerning children.’
Family Law Week, 9th January 2020
Source: www.familylawweek.co.uk
‘Articles from around the web, Legislation updates and Case Updates from Care Proceedings and Financial Remedy matters.’
Spire Barristers, 6th January 2020
Source: spirebarristers.co.uk
‘Within the U.K. there are two judicial systems: the law of England and Wales and the law of Scotland; which differ slightly. The Human Rights Act 1998 came into force on the 2nd October 2000 to incorporate the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms 1950 (‘the Convention’) into the law of England & Wales. At the same time that the Human Rights Act 1998 was passing through parliament the Scotland Act 1998 was also making its’ way through parliament. Under the Scotland Act 1998, in May 1999, the U.K. devolved legislative and executive power to Scotland. The primary function of the Scotland Act 1998 was to set up a system of devolved government for Scotland, but it also included important provisions relating to the protection of the rights guaranteed by the Convention (‘Convention rights’).’
5SAH, 10th December 2019
Source: www.5sah.co.uk
‘Newborns could be diverted from care proceedings if more time is given to pre-birth assessments where there are safeguarding concerns, according to a review published today.’
Law Society's Gazette, 11th December 2019
Source: www.lawgazette.co.uk
‘‘I’d like a sibling assessment too, please’ are words usually accompanied by a roll of the eyes as the already stretched social work team tots up the extra work involved. On the extensive list of parenting assessments, viability and kinship assessments, expert assessment and so forth, the sibling assessment is often the bottom of the priorities.’
Parklane Plowden Chambers, 2nd December 2019
Source: www.parklaneplowden.co.uk
‘Removing a child from the care of their birth parents is a drastic measure that can be very traumatic, perhaps even more so when the child is a new-born baby. This was acknowledged by Munby J (as he then was) in Re K [2008] EWHC 540 (Fam) where he held that “it was a very drastic thing indeed to interfere with a young mother’s contact with her new-born baby and his contact with her, particularly at a time when ‘threshold’ (s 31 (2) of the 1989 Children Act) is yet to be established.”’
Pallant Chambers, 26th November 2019
Source: www.pallantchambers.co.uk
‘The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal brought by a great-aunt from care and placement orders made by a judge at the conclusion of proceedings concerning a two-year-old boy, J.’
Local Government Lawyer, 19th November 2019
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
‘Many people believe that we do not pay enough attention to the rights of children in care to stay with, or at least stay in touch with, their brothers and sisters. Our relationships with our brothers and sisters can be the longest and most valuable in our lives but, for a range of reasons, these relationships can be disrupted when children are taken into care – or adopted – and are arguably overlooked by the law.’
Transparency Project, 17th November 2019
Source: www.transparencyproject.org.uk
‘The Court of Appeal has ordered a second retrial in care proceedings relating to five siblings following the death of a ten-year-old girl in 2016, describing the judgment from the first retrial as“wrong and procedurally unjust”.’
Local Government Lawyer, 15th November 2019
Source: www.localgovernmentlawyer.co.uk
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