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Adoption – Application. The judge had had to decide whether to place two young children with their paternal aunt in Belgium or to allow them to remain with their long term foster carer who had applied to adopt them. The judge had ordered that the children be sent to their aunt. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, allowed the foster carer's appeal. The judge had erred in eliding the two welfare check-lists in the Children Act 1989 and the Adoption and Children Act 2002 and failed to give any regard to the effect on the children of removing them from the care of their primary attachment figure, when it was common ground that that was a strong and entirely positive relationship, and, likewise, failed to attribute any value, from the children's perspective, to the continuation of that relationship.
Adoption – Application. The judge had had to decide whether to place two young children with their paternal aunt in Belgium or to allow them to remain with their long term foster carer who had applied to adopt them. The judge had ordered that the children be sent to their aunt. The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, allowed the foster carer's appeal. The judge had erred in eliding the two welfare check-lists in the Children Act 1989 and the Adoption and Children Act 2002 and failed to give any regard to the effect on the children of removing them from the care of their primary attachment figure, when it was common ground that that was a strong and entirely positive relationship, and, likewise, failed to attribute any value, from the children's perspective, to the continuation of that relationship.
The age of criminal responsibility, extreme weather and conflict resolution – plus, new protocol for reporting bullying at the Bar
By David Green
Mário Barroso, Head of R&D and Method Development at AlphaBiolabs, examines the forensic science underpinning hair drug testing, its evidential scope and limitations, and why it remains the gold standard for evidencing patterns of drug use in family proceedings
Unlocking your aged debt to fund your tax in one easy step. By Philip N Bristow
Clement Cowley, Partner at The Penny Group, discusses the upcoming changes to pensions and Inheritance Tax and the potential impact on your financial future
Save the Children UK is the latest charity to benefit from a £500 donation from AlphaBiolabs via the company’s Giving Back initiative
Barrister apprenticeships – shortly to provide the fourth pathway to the Bar – are an ideal opportunity to support local talent and ‘grow your own’, say Tim Coulson and Dr Jane Dennehy
Oliver Lewis spotlights an overlooked yet rapidly evolving area of law – coercive and controlling behaviour within care contexts
Solicitor General Ellie Reeves KC MP discusses her decade as a trade union and employment law barrister, the demands of life as a Law Officer and the number one priority shaping her work. Interview by Anthony Inglese CB
A decade of reviews and research has disrupted accepted thinking in the search for causality. Suicides following abuse have overtaken domestic homicides. Is the law keeping up? Professor Susan Edwards KC (Hon) examines recent cases and the obstacles to successful prosecution
At least not that way, says Richard Paige