Case Summaries

Application by Rights of Women for a declaration that procedural regulations have been unlawfully used to introduce more restrictive criteria for eligibility to legal aid than those found in LASPO 2012, or that they frustrate the statutory purpose, by prescribing the acceptable types of supporting evidence too rigidly and narrowly, thus excluding many women who ought to be eligible for legal aid under the terms of LASPO 2012. The argument focused principally on the requirement that the supporting evidence must be less than 24 months old.

Judgment of Mr Justice Baker in which he makes care and placement orders in respect of two children and summarises the guidance for public law cases involving children who have links to foreign countries.

Successful application by a mother under the Hague Convention on Child Abduction and Brussels IIR for the summary return of three children to France.

A short judgment of Baker J under the inherent jurisdiction granting a health trust’s application to withhold and to withdraw medical treatment given to a 6-month old baby with extensive brain damage, palsy and who had suffered multiple cardiac arrests.

Care proceedings; appeal from decisions including that 13 year old child who made allegations of sexual abuse should not give oral evidence at fact finding hearing. Appeal dismissed on this issue, but with detailed dissent from Gloster LJ.

Court of Appeal determines that judge did not have the jurisdiction to determine a dispute on the payment of the costs of an independent social worker in private law children dispute.

Judgment in Court of Appeal in which King LJ notes the importance of the provision of services to adoptive parents under Section 4 of the Children and Adoption Act 2002.

Judgment as to whether the respondent husband had diplomatic immunity from suit in relation to an application for financial relief under Part III of the Matrimonial and the Family Proceedings Act 1984.

Judgment in Court of Appeal in which King LJ draws attention to paragraph 19, CPR PD 52C and sets out best practice for local authorities in care cases where litigants in person seek permission to appeal to the Court of Appeal.

Mother’s successful application to permanently relocate to Poland with the parties’ two year old child.

Appeal against a child arrangements order, whereby contact between the mother and her 18 months old child was limited to indirect contact only.

Application for substantial increase in periodical payments under Sch. 1 to the Children Act 1989 in relation to child and for an order for sums to pay, inter alia, debts and legal costs.

Joint application for the court to construe a financial remedies consent order to determine whether the wife or the estate of the late husband ought to discharge €9.2m of French tax charged against a valuable French property.

Court of Appeal judgment in financial remedy proceedings appeal allowed regarding one element in the initial order which provided for an automatic increase in the level of periodical payments payable to the wife following the date upon which the youngest child ceased privately funded secondary education.

Judgment in financial remedy proceedings in which neither spouse wanted a pension sharing order, both sought equality of asset division overall with a clean break. The High Court decided the correct approach to pension offsetting should be based upon Duxbury calculations as opposed to sums required to purchase an annuity to generate an equivalent income to a pension.

Appeal to Supreme Court by non-biological mother against decision that court did not have jurisdiction to deal with application seeking return of child removed to Pakistan. Appeal allowed.