Contact enforcement is the "Achilles Heel" of relocation cases, says reunite research - Family Law Week
"Loss of contact is one of the greatest problems in relocation cases as enforcement is the "Achilles heel", just as
it is in abduction cases. This conclusion is one of many set out in a research report recently published by
reunite, the child abduction and relocation organisation."
Care chief is suspended over complaints backlog - Independent
"The head of a social care regulator has been suspended after a backlog of complaints meant more than 20
social workers continued to work despite posing a potential risk to the public."
Scholar denies that Islamic divorce procedure is biased against women - The Times
"Opponents of Sharia have long complained that it involves an inherent bias against women and treats them as
second-rate citizens."
London Borough of Brent v S [2009] EWHC 1593 (Fam) - Family Law Week
"Judgment arising from application for an injunction by local authority to prevent a child in their care from
travelling to Pakistan to find his remaining family. The injunction was lifted."
Sam Hasler's Indiana Divorce & Family Law Blog: What Should a Family Lawyer Know?
"What New Family Law Attorneys Need To Know from Family Law Prof Blog tried to answer. I think they are all
good. Would that clients understood better what we do, can do, and that we could explain all this to them."
Guidance aims to spot child abuse - BBC News
"A watchdog has issued guidance to help healthcare workers spot early signs of child abuse to avoid another
Baby P."
Care Quality Commission: improvements needed in GPs' safeguarding training - Community Care
"In a report on NHS safeguarding standards - commissioned by the government following the baby Peter case -
the Care Quality Commission found just 35% of GPs had been appropriately trained in safeguarding - the lowest
proportion of all healthcare professionals."
Pink Tape: Lord Bach To The Drawing Board
"Lord Bach, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Ministry of Justice, yesterday made a written
statement to the House in respect of the proposed cuts to family legal aid advocacy fees..."
NHS widens criteria for investigations into child abuse - Guardian
"New guidelines expand factors that trigger suspicion of maltreatment to include young people being 'smelly
and dirty"
Residence and Contact Orders: Domestic Violence and Harm - Law Society Gazette
"The above practice direction, originally issued on 9 May 2008, was reissued on 14 January 2009 to reflect the
decision of the House of Lords in Re B (Children) [2008] UKHL 35."
Changes to forced marriage protection orders - Law Society Gazette
"The Forced Marriage (Civil Protection) Act 2007 (the act), in force from 25 November 2008, is an important
social reforming statute of power and humanity, protecting the basic right to marry by choice."
Marilyn Stowe Blog: Cohabitation: know your rights and the law
"I wanted to put my last post, about the Centre for Social Justice’s plans for cohabiting couples, into a factual
and legal context..."
Divorce Survivor: Money Box 2
"There was another set of interesting questions about divorce and separation on BBC Radio 4's Money Box
today."
Pannone Family Blog: Domestic Violence in the news
"The issue of domestic violence was again highlighted today following reports that Chris Brown posted a two-
minute apology for the incident between himself and pop-star Rhianna in February of this year on his website."
Opera star Dmitri Hvorostovsky told to pay more to ex-wife - Guardian
"Former ballerina 'gave up her career' to support husband's career as world-famous baritone, court is told" - see
law report below.
Family legal aid reforms postponed - Family Law Newswatch
"Following a consultation on a new fee structure that ended last March, the Government has acknowledged that
controversial plans to impose fixed fees for family legal representation cannot proceed without "further analysis"."
Hvorostovsky v Hvorostovsky [2009] EWCA Civ 791
Application by wife to vary periodical payments - wife dissatisfied with award and appealed - appeal allowed,
primarily because of husband's greatly increased income, and periodical payments increased.
G v G [2009] - Family Law Newswatch
"Proceedings under Children Act 1989, Schedule 1 - mother applied for interim periodical payments order, to
include legal costs - father argued that the court did not have jurisdiction to include legal costs - held, the court
did have jurisdiction to make such an order."
Re H (Care Proceedings: Disclosure) [2009] EWCA Civ 704 - Family Law Newswatch
"The police, supported by the local authority, applied for disclosure of certain documents in the care
proceedings, to assist with a criminal investigation into the injuries to the third child. The judge refused
disclosure. The case was to be remitted to the county court for further consideration pursuant to the now-
applicable rules."
Jones v Kernott [2009] - Family Law Newswatch
"Unmarried couple purchased property in joint names - woman brought claim under TLATA - at first instance the
court held that she was entitled to 90% of the value of the property, on the basis that this was fair and just - man
appealed - held that there was evidence of conduct from which it was right to conclude that the parties had
intended their respective equal shares to alter following the man's departure, but none to indicate how. The only
available criterion by which to assess the extent of the alteration was what was objectively fair, and the only
judge of that was the court. The first instance judge's attribution of 90% to the woman was justifiable."
The Family Proceedings Courts (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No.2) Rules 2009
These Rules amend the Family Proceedings Courts (Children Act 1989) Rules 1991 and the Family Proceedings
Courts (Matrimonial Proceedings etc.) Rules 1991.
The Family Law Act 1996 (Forced Marriage)(Relevant Third Party) Order 2009
This Order specifies a local authority as a relevant third party for the purposes of applying for a forced marriage
protection order under section 63C of the Family Law Act 1996 (c. 27). A relevant third party can apply to the
court for a forced marriage protection order without the leave of the court.
Head of Legal: Directive 2004/38: Commision skirts the gay marriage issue
"Last month, when talking about the big Californian case about Proposition 8, I mentioned the unexploded
bomb created by articles 2, 3 and 4 of Directive 2004/38 on the free movement rights of EU citizens and their
families: they give an unconditional right of free movement within Europe not only to every EU citizen but to his
or her spouse - a term which is undefined."
Benussi Blog: Truly, madly, deeply?
"Being madly in love is widely seen as the best recipe for a successful marriage. According to research
published this month, however, love is little more than a starting point."
Embracing Conflict: Collaborative Law. What will we talk about?
"I continue to work within collaborative law, helping divorcing and separating couples to communicate with
each other to reach a solution."