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A woman is killed by a current or ex-partner every four days in England and Wales (In Pictures/Getty)
Domestic abuse victims are routinely “silenced” by the family courts and forced into letting dangerous ex-partners see their children, campaigners said.
In a letter, shared exclusively with
The Independent, over 40 experts in the family law and violence against women and girls sectors urged the government to take urgent action to protect domestic abuse victims.
The experts warned the Ministry of Justice released a report around a year ago stating the family courts are putting domestic abuse victims and their children at risk of additional harm, yet the system remains wholly unchanged since the research was published.
Exclusive: The pandemic made it easier to serve restraining orders because of a relaxation in the rules but experts say courts are going ‘backwards’ since lockdown started easing
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Our articles are written by experts in their field and include barristers, solicitors, judges, mediators, academics and professionals from a range of related disciplines. Family Law provides a platform for debate for all the important topics, from divorce and care proceedings to transparency and access to justice. If you would like to contribute please email editor@familylaw.co.uk.
Spotlight Children and Same Sex Families: A Legal Handbook
Advicenow, working with the Pensions Advisory Group and funded by the Nuffield Foundation, has launched a
The guide seeks to address the reasons so many divorcing couples overlook their pensions when agreeing how to divide their assets and urges readers to consider pensions when doing so. As Beth Kirkland, Advicenow s family law expert, explains: Pensions are viewed by many couples as too complicated or intimidating, and a lack of user-friendly information compounds the problem. While many of us find thinking about future finances stressful, it is dangerous to ignore them. And there is ample research that shows that not sharing pensions can lead to women who have children particularly being in unnecessarily precarious financial positions in later life.
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Following judgment in
R (on the application of GR) v Director of Legal Aid Casework & Anor [2020] EWHC 3140 (Admin), victims of domestic abuse who jointly own property with their abuser must not be automatically denied legal aid on the grounds of capital that is in practice trapped . The court found the Legal Aid Agency has discretion over whether legal aid should be granted in these cases. This strategic litigation was brought by Public Law Project (PLP) supported by the Law Society
Supreme Court declines to hear transgender man s appeal to be registered as father
The SC has declined to hear a case in which a transgender man who had given birth to a son sought judicial review of the decision that he had to be registered on the birth certificate of the son as his mother . Alfred McConnell is a transgender man and holder of a gender recognition certificate, who gave birth to a son, YY. The Registrar General for England and Wales decided that Mr McConnell had to be re