Remembering Victoria Climbié

Victoria Climbié

Why Victoria?  On 2nd November 2021 Victoria would have celebrated her 30th birthday, a milestone occasion for any adult and a time to be celebrated.  In her memory and to mark what would have been an important birthday, I have chosen to dedicate my article to Victoria.  This subject strikes a particularly poignant chord for me as I like […]

Read more

Finding of Fact Hearings

fact finding Kerri O'Neill Unit chambers

Finding of Fact Hearings: Refocussing on the “Oxfordshire test” and case management  Over the summer, Lord Justice Jackson gave the leading judgment in the Court of Appeal in H-D-H (Children) [2021] EWCA Civ 1192. The Appeal Court considered 2 appeals sequentially, each appealing case management decisions to not investigate allegations via a finding of fact hearing.   The first of the […]

Read more

Transparency in the Family Courts

Transparency in the family courts

Recently I read an article in The Sunday Times by the former President of the Family Division, Sir James Munby, entitled “Family court privacy law put judges’ needs first.” The article was recapping on the evidence that the former President had given earlier this year to a transparency review of the family court. I don’t […]

Read more