Family

Richard Jones QC meets the President of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Professor Terence Stephenson 

Leading family law barristers have spoken out against the Legal Services Commission’s decision to drop many specialist solicitors firms from its contract pool. 

Jonathan Herring claims that it is a divorce lawyer’s world 

A working party of about 100 barristers, clerks and practice managers from the criminal, family, civil, commercial and chancery Bar has been set up to advise sets of chambers on how to contract directly with the LSC.

“Transparency” is the most important issue facing the family justice system and legislation designed to bring about greater openness is a “lost opportunity”, Lord Justice Munby has said. 

Care applications have reached record levels, according to figures released by Cafcass, the organisation that looks after children in the family courts.

James Sharpe discusses the stages of a Law Commission project from start to finish 

Although many are aware of the work of the Law Commission (“the Commission”), fewer may be aware of the stages of a Commission project and how its recommendations fit into the overall process of law reform. This article offers an insight by taking the example of the Commission’s Report, “Children: Their Non-Accidental Death or Serious Injury (Criminal Trials)” (Law Com No 279) which was implemented via ss 5 and 6 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004. This introduced the offence of causing or allowing the death of a child or vulnerable adult. 

Name: Timothy Scott QC     Position: Family Law Silk 

Name: Laura Heaton            Position: Family Law Barrister / Finance Director 

Chambers: 29 Bedford Row 

Sir Nicholas Wall has been appointed President of the Family Division, following the retirement of Sir Mark Potter in April. Sir Nicholas was Called to the Bar by Gray’s Inn in 1969 and took Silk in 1988. He was appointed to the Family Division of the High Court in 1993 and to the Court of Appeal in 2004. 

In Re W the Supreme Court reformulated the approach a family court should take when exercising its discretion to decide whether to order a child to give live evidence in family proceedings. However many questions still remain unanswered,  believes Chris McWatters 

 Most barristers would consider it a travesty of justice if they were not allowed to cross-examine a complainant who had made allegations against their client, especially if those unchallenged allegations were believed by a court.