*/
The Head of the Family Division warned that he and the state would have ‘blood on our hands’ if a hospital bed was not found for a teenager due to be released from youth custody.
In an unprecedented speech, Sir James Munby said he felt ‘powerless’ that he was unable to do more to help the 17-year-old, known as X, who had made several ‘determined’ attempts to commit suicide, after he was told there were not enough beds in the country.
He said: ‘If this is the best we can do for X, and others in similar crisis, what right do we, what right do the system, our society and indeed the state itself, have to call ourselves civilised?
‘The honest answer to this question should make us all feel ashamed. For my own part, acutely conscious of my powerlessness – of my inability to do more for X – I feel shame and embarrassment; shame, as a human being, as a citizen and as an agent of the state, embarrassment as president of the family division, and, as such, head of family justice, that I can do no more for X.’
Days later, Mr Justice Mostyn warned the government to reform child maintenance rules, as he ordered a father with assets of more than £5m, but who said he could only afford to pay £7 a week, to pay £20,000.
The Head of the Family Division warned that he and the state would have ‘blood on our hands’ if a hospital bed was not found for a teenager due to be released from youth custody.
In an unprecedented speech, Sir James Munby said he felt ‘powerless’ that he was unable to do more to help the 17-year-old, known as X, who had made several ‘determined’ attempts to commit suicide, after he was told there were not enough beds in the country.
He said: ‘If this is the best we can do for X, and others in similar crisis, what right do we, what right do the system, our society and indeed the state itself, have to call ourselves civilised?
‘The honest answer to this question should make us all feel ashamed. For my own part, acutely conscious of my powerlessness – of my inability to do more for X – I feel shame and embarrassment; shame, as a human being, as a citizen and as an agent of the state, embarrassment as president of the family division, and, as such, head of family justice, that I can do no more for X.’
Days later, Mr Justice Mostyn warned the government to reform child maintenance rules, as he ordered a father with assets of more than £5m, but who said he could only afford to pay £7 a week, to pay £20,000.
The new Bar Council earnings report presents a collective challenge for the self-employed Bar, remote hearings are changing and Bar Conference is back next month
Launch of the Institute of Neurotechnology and Law
Paul Magrath of ICLR recalls the chequered history of law reporting prior to the 1865 establishment of a Council of Law Reporting
Leading drug, alcohol and DNA testing laboratory, AlphaBiolabs, has made a £500 donation to North West charity Child Concern as part of its Giving Back campaign
Gail Evans, Technical Trainer at AlphaBiolabs, examines the latest trends in illicit drug use as seen in the laboratory, from designer drugs to ‘unexpected’ substances in a donor’s sample
Louise Crush explores the value you can measure in monetary terms alongside the many non-tangible benefits to working with a financial adviser
Most of us like to think we would risk our career in order to meet our ethical obligations, so why have so many lawyers failed to hold the line? asks Flora Page
If your current practice environment is bringing you down, seek a new one. However daunting the change, it will be worth it, says Anon Barrister
Creating advocacy opportunities for juniors is now the expectation but not always easy to put into effect. Tom Mitcheson KC distils developing best practice from the Patents Court initiative already bearing fruit
National courts are now running the bulk of the world’s war crimes cases and corporate prosecutions are part of this growing trend, reports Chris Stephen
Let’s hear it for the assessors, says Dame Anne Rafferty of the KC Selection Panel. And to make silk assessors’ lives a little easier when applicants come calling in May, Dame Anne fields some commonly asked questions