Salford CC v W and Ors [2021] EWHC 61 (Fam)
MacDonald J in the High Court, Family Division:
(1) dismissed a prohibited steps order application preventing Roman Catholic sacraments for children ages 4-11 in a proposed Special Guardianship setting, and
(2) adjourned an application for a declaration on their legal status (for purposes of eventually determining the local authority’s obligation to pay remuneration), pending involvement in the question from both local authorities (Norfolk and Suffolk).
Background
There are five children, from age 4 to age 11 years old, and all parties agree that they should stay in the care of a maternal aunt and her partner, Mrs Z and Mr Y, with whom they have lived since June 2017. All parties also agree there should be a Special Guardianship Order.
V v W [2020] EWFC 84, 2 December 2020
In this case, Sir James Munby dismissed the husband s ( H ) application for disclosure of the transcript of the FDR hearing and various associated documents into civil proceedings involving recovery of a single joint expert s fees incurred in financial remedy proceedings.
Mr X, a single joint expert, was appointed in financial remedy proceedings to value a company owned by H. H was to pay the fees. The report was produced late and received by H two days before the FDR hearing. In April 2019, Mr X s firm issued a claim against H seeking payment of its fees. Later that month, H s company became insolvent and entered a USA Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Elaine Richardson
Mediation has an important role within civil justice, particularly within family disputes. In family law, mediation does not create an inequality of arms between parties, as is the case in some areas of law, such as housing. In family disputes, it is an opportunity to remove the animosity that can naturally arise during court proceedings and enable participants to make their own decisions based on what will work for them and their families.
Mediation is often not well understood by the family law community but it can be one of the most cost-effective and quickest ways to deal with the issues surrounding relationship breakdown. Mediation and non-court dispute resolution measures will always be most effective alongside advice from an expert family law solicitor.
Amendments to Family Procedure Rules
Amendments to paragraph 1.4 and 11.1 of Practice Direction 36N, to add provision for a legal representative of a respondent to use the online system for contested financial remedy applications and remove references to Maintenance Pending Suit applications, came into force on
18 December 2020. The remainder of the amendments come into force on
11 January 2021.
1 February 2021:
The introduction of new Practice Direction 41C to provide for a procedure by which, in specified circumstances, appeal proceedings in Family Division of the High Court may proceed by electronic means using an online case management system.
The following Practice Direction amendments came into force on
Bell v Tavistock ) has caused a great deal of concern amongst the parents of children with gender dysphoria and trans children themselves. A link to the proceedings can be found
here, but in short, the claimants, Ms Bell and Mrs A, brought a claim for judicial review against the Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust through its Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS); University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Ms Bell had transitioned whilst she was a patient of GIDS and subsequently de-transitioned as an adult; Mrs A was the mother of an autistic child with gender dysphoria who was concerned about her child being referred to GIDS and prescribed puberty blockers (notwithstanding that the child would not meet GIDS criteria and therefore this was a theoretical concern).