Blog
NHS staff must declare gifts from drugs companies or face jail
Does the widely disliked “Big Pharma” bribe doctors with free gifts and hospitality? In this country at least, bribery is seldom carried out by anything so obvious as a brown envelope stuffed with used bank notes. Instead, it is made to seem respectable by invitations to conferences in comfortable hotels, where the ostensible purpose of […]
Shining the light on proceedings
Often people will ask me whether the Bar and the Courtroom exchanges are really like it is portrayed on television in programmes like ‘Silk’ or ‘Judge John Deed’ and, for those of you old enough to remember, ‘Crown Court’. Since most episodes have to fit in to a one hour slot, there has to be […]
A (A Child) [2015] EWCA Civ 910
Background on the relevant law S.1 (2A) and (2B) of the Children Act 1989, as amended by the Children and Families Act 2014, states that there is a presumption that involvement (direct or indirect) of a parent in a child’s life will further the welfare of the child. This position is therefore the starting point […]
Revocation of adoption orders: As rare as hen’s teeth?
Once a child is adopted this severs all legal ties with the birth family and establishes a new legal relationship with the adopters family. Often these adoptions are considered to be enabling the child to be a part of a forever family. However, the law allows for applications for revocation of the Adoption Order, but […]
Variation of undertakings in financial remedy orders
Undertakings in financial remedy orders are commonplace but the recent case of Birch v Birch [2015] EWCA Civ 833 explored the issue of the court’s jurisdiction to vary undertakings on application. The facts were fairly simple. The Wife obtained a transfer of the family home and gave undertakings to the court to use her best […]
A bad day at the office, or when intervention is too much intervention
The finding of fact hearing that was the subject of a recent appeal in Re G (A Child) [2015] EWCA Civ 834 puts into perspective what advocates (and indeed judges) may count as a “bad day at the office”. The facts are in many ways irrelevant, but to give a little context: this was a […]
Re H (Children) [2015] EWCA Civ 583
The case arose from public law family proceedings relating to a family of four children, whose mother was unable to care for them due to mental illness. The Father cared for all four children prior to the proceedings, however, the local authority had concerns that he was unable to cope and applied for a full […]
Successfully appealing a well-reasoned interim order
The recent Court of Appeal case of Re B (a child) (2015) is a reminder of the difficultly in successfully appealing a well-reasoned interim order. In this case the appellant father appealed against an order that his six-year-old son (B) should return to live with the respondent mother pending an investigation into B’s allegations. B’s […]
Child abduction and the PR Problem
Considering the subject matter, the 2014 Supreme Court judgment in Re K (a child) (Northern Ireland) [2014] UKSC 29 caused few ripples in the general consciousness of the family bar. What practitioners need to take away from this judgment is that they should be advising clients without PR for their children to obtain the same […]
Gay cake row
Not the latest cupcake, popcake, cronut or yumdough! But the case of Gareth Lee v Ashers Baking Co Ltd & Colin McArthur Ltd & Karen McArthur Ltd heard in the High Court of Belfast last month. This case has received a good deal of media attention. The judgment was handed down in the same week […]
Spending £1.5 million on cocaine and prostitutes isn’t wanton says Moor J
The recent case of MAP v MFP [2015] EWHC 627 (Fam) may have further restricted the availability of ‘add-back’ arguments by suggesting that the husband’s expenditure was part of his “complex character” which his spouse must accept as the downside to a personality which enabled him to make a great success of his business. Suggestions […]
Exclusive zero hours contracts banned
What’s this all about then? There is now a ban on clauses in zero hours contracts which prevent workers from holding other jobs at the same time. Legislation: Section 153 of the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 received Royal Assent on 26 May 2015. This section amends the Employment Rights Act 1996 by […]
