The Family Justice Review (2) - Main recommendations

In November 2011 the Family Justice Review, led by David Norgrove, issued its final report - "Family Justice Review: Final Report."   It is a lengthy and detailed report and builds upon an Interim Report issued earlier this year.  The Review was conducted against the background of certain "guiding principles" set out by the commissioning Ministers - please see Part 1 of this post.

: The Recommendations :

The recommendations are set out at pages 26 to 36 of the report.  For the reasoning underlying particular recommendations it is necessary to look at the subsequent Chapters.  What follows is a reasonably detailed look at the main recommendations.

The child’s voice: pages 45-49 - the report seeks to ensure that children’s interests are truly central to the operation of the family justice system.  Thus, children should be given age appropriate information to explain what is happening when they are involved in public and private law cases and they should be supported so that they are able to make their views known.  The Family Justice Service (recommended by the Review) would take the lead in this area. 

The UK Government should

Rights of Children

Farndon-Holt Bridge

An old stone bridge crosses the River Dee and links the English village of Farndon with the Welsh village of Holt.  For many years, the historic and sinuous boundary between England and Wales was of little practical interest to most lawyers who practised the Law of England and Wales.  (The Bar had, and still has, the Wales and Chester Circuit).  Since the enactment of the Government of Wales Acts 1998 and 2006 things have changed. There is an elected National Assembly for Wales (Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru) based in Cardiff and it is empowered to legislate within certain devolved areas - see Cabinet Office.  As a result, there are now some marked differences between the law in England and that in Wales.

In 1989, the United Kingdom signed the United Nations Covenant on the Rights of the Child.   This came into force on 2nd September 1990 and binds the United Kingdom in international law.  The Convention has not been incorporated by statute into English law.  However, it could be referred to

The Family Justice Review (1) - Overview and Terms of Reference

In November 2011 the Family Justice Review, led by David Norgrove, issued its final report - "Family Justice Review: Final Report."   The report extends to 228 pages.  This was the second major report of the year relating to family law and justice; the other report being that by Professor Eileen Munro - see Law and Lawyers 10th May 2011 Munro Review on Child Protection.

The Family Justice Review was commissioned by the Secretaries of State for Justice and Education and also by the Welsh government Minister for Health and Social Services. The Terms of Reference of the Review are set out at Annex A to the report and are considered in this post (below).  Interestingly, the Terms of reference refer to certain "guiding principles."   These are now considered with my comments in brackets ( ).

The "Guiding Principles" as decreed by Ministers:

The interests of the child should be paramount in any decision affecting them.  (This reflects existing law  - Children Act 1989 s.1. and it is generally accepted that the interests of the child should remain central to decisions.  The present law gives little weight to others involved - e.g. grandparents etc.  For an interesting viewpoint, see

Family Law: contact orders - a case raising novel issues

The 500th Post on this Blog

When the significant adults in a child's life are in conflict, the child can suffer emotional harm.  Disputes arise about matters such as where a child shall live ("residence") or whether the child should have contact with the other adult and, if so, what form that contact should take.   Where agreement is not possible between the disputing adults, the courts may be called upon to make orders under Part II of the Children Act 1989- e.g. residence order, contact order etc.  When such orders are made, it is far from unusual for one or even all of the parties to dislike the terms of the order but the fact remains that the order is a default position defined by the court which was made necessary by the intransigence of the adults.

In making the order, the court will have applied the fundamental rules set out in section 1 of the Children Act - namely that the child's welfare is the court's paramount consideration ("Welfare Principle") and that no order should be made unless the court considers that doing so would be better for the child than making no order at all ("No order principle").

The recent case of  Re P and L (Minors) [2011] EWHC 3431 (Fam) was a dispute about

Twelve Days of Christmas - my selection

Here are some offerings for the Twelve Days of Christmas (or, for the mathematically inclined - this):

1.  Christmas Day - "For Unto Us is Born a Child" - Huddersfield Choral with the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Malcolm Sargent.  This fine performance was back in 1946.  Then there was His Majesty's speech on 25th December 1939 - "I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year ..."

2.  Boxing Day - "The Wexford Carol" - there are many versions of this lovely old carol - I like this and this. 

3.  27th December - A Denning judgment - dedicated to all those modern judges who seem to lack the time to keep their judgments short and

Habeas Corpus No. 2

A writ of habeas corpus was issued by the Court of Appeal in the case of Yunus Rahmatullah - Law and Lawyers 14th December 2011.   It now appears that the British Government has asked the United States to return him to British custody but the government has been granted further time (18th January) to obtain his production - see Telegraph 21st December 2011.  It is not yet clear whether the US will comply with this request though Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) existed between the UK and US governments relating to Transfer of Prisoners of War, Civilian Internees and Civilian Detainees.  Details of the MOU are in the Court of Appeal judgment.

English Courts are careful when issuing writs and orders since they have to be enforceable.  Consequently, it is essential that those to whom the writ or order is directed are basically able to comply with it.   The primary purpose of the habeas corpus writ is the physical production of the person concerned ('the applicant') before the court - (see Court of Appeal judgment at para 26).

The effectiveness of the

Winter Solstice News and Views

Stonehenge

Updated

The winter solstice has now passed and the days will lengthen.  Over the last few weeks there has been a considerable amount of legal news and the Michaelmas Term has been fascinating.  The following is a selection.

The Court of Appeal: Criminal Division Annual Report:  has been released - see here (pdf 40 pages).   This is a highly interesting and useful document which includes Chapter 3 (Cases of note), Chapter 4 (Other types of appeal and Chapter 5 (Role of the Criminal Cases Review Commission).

Lord Chief Justice's Press Conference: was held on 6th December.   A transcript of the conference is available.  Questions covered a considerable range.  His Lordship refused to comment about the legal aid bill since it was in the political arena and therefore "wiser to say nothing."  In response to a question relating to the effectiveness of the law of contempt of court, Lord Judge responded by saying it came down to what sort of jury system we want.  It has to be one in which the case is decided only on the basis of evidence presented in court and not material discovered by jurors undertaking their own internet research.  Questioning