News
All the news items published on Family Law Week this year are listed below. You can browse our news archive using the folders on the left.
- Number of looked after children at all-time high
News (22/11/2021) - Better adult outcomes for children cared for by relatives – new research
News (22/11/2021) - Supreme Court to give judgment in case involving capacity to consent to sexual relations
News (22/11/2021) - Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Bill given second reading
News (22/11/2021) - Mental Capacity Act: consultation launched on Small Payments Scheme
News (22/11/2021) - Cuts led to vulnerable children ‘crisis’: House of Lords Public Services Committee
News (22/11/2021) - Reforms to child age assessments in Nationalities and Borders Bill investigated
News (22/11/2021) - Expressions of Interest sought for membership of the Family Transparency Implementation Group
News (22/11/2021) - President of the Family Division: Drafting orders
News (15/11/2021) - President of the Family Division: Witness statements
News (15/11/2021) - Charities respond to Supreme Court ruling on children’s privacy and data rights
News (15/11/2021) - Ofsted: Lack of foster carers mean children missing out on support
News (15/11/2021) - Looked after children: out of area, unregulated and unregistered accommodation in England
News (15/11/2021) - Education Committee examines adequacy of children’s homes for children with special educational needs
News (15/11/2021) - Justice Committee examines the future of court reporting in changing media landscape
News (15/11/2021) - Judge criticises ‘nihilistic’ family law litigation
News (08/11/2021) - More specialist support for LGBT+ victims of domestic abuse needed: Domestic Abuse Commissioner
News (08/11/2021) - £12 million Transformation Fund launched to support family hubs
News (08/11/2021) - Government publishes report showing progress under Istanbul Convention
News (08/11/2021) - Developing and Maintaining Relationships for Care-Experienced People report published
News (08/11/2021) - Legal aid: launch of high cost family fixer service
News (08/11/2021) - ‘Honour-based’ offences rose by 81 per cent in last five years
News (01/11/2021) - Number of children in need at lowest figure since 2013
News (01/11/2021) - CSA collection and write-off strategy nears completion
News (01/11/2021) - Transparency in the Family Courts Report published
News (01/11/2021) - Financial Remedy Proceedings Consultation launched
News (01/11/2021) - Commissioner ‘deeply concerned’ by latest CPS statistics on domestic abuse
News (24/10/2021) - Child abduction: accredited solicitors referral list
News (24/10/2021) - First winners of prestigious Resolution Awards revealed
News (24/10/2021) - Providers given legal aid financial eligibility tool to trial
News (24/10/2021) - President of the Family Division addresses priorities for the rest of his term
News (24/10/2021) - Farquhar Committee reports on the Financial Remedies Courts
News (24/10/2021) - CMA outlines concerns on availability and price of children’s care
News (24/10/2021) - Domestic abuse cases being dropped at increasing rate: BBC News
News (18/10/2021) - Report Abuse in Education helpline will run until the end of the year
News (14/10/2021) - President of the Family Division’s memorandum: Experts in the Family Court
News (14/10/2021) - Children’s Commissioner’s proposals to help children by helping families
News (14/10/2021) - New public law cases received by Cafcass fell by 14.5 per cent in September
News (14/10/2021) - New private law cases received by Cafcass in September fell by 13 per cent
News (14/10/2021) - Play about legal implications of baby shaking to be broadcast via Teams
News (10/10/2021) - Bertarelli settlement shows the value of ‘a good prenuptial agreement’
News (08/10/2021) - Financial support for kinship carers
News (08/10/2021) - Divorcée receives £60k state pension windfall after DWP mistake
News (08/10/2021) - Financial Remedy Court Organogram (October 2021)
News (08/10/2021) - Do you believe mediation should be voluntary?
News (08/10/2021) - Civil and Family Court fees from 30 September 2021
News (03/10/2021) - 783,000 children are currently covered by Child Maintenance Service arrangements
News (03/10/2021) - Resolution Awards shortlist announced
News (03/10/2021) - New family case starts rose 14 per cent during April to June 2021
News (03/10/2021) - MIAMs increased by 43 per cent in April to June 2021
News (03/10/2021) - Legal aid expenditure for family matters rose 12 per cent in April to June 2021
News (03/10/2021) - Welsh Government launches campaign explaining ban on physical punishment of children
News (26/09/2021) - Woman with Down’s Syndrome loses challenge to UK’s abortion law
News (26/09/2021) - ‘Victims of domestic abuse are discriminated against in the family courts’
News (26/09/2021) - The right to family life: adoption of children of unmarried women 1949-1976
News (26/09/2021) - New research highlights the importance of pension sharing on divorce for women’s finances
News (19/09/2021) - New public law cases received by Cafcass fell by almost 14 per cent in August
News (17/09/2021) - New private law cases received by Cafcass in August fell by 8 per cent
News (17/09/2021) - Domestic Abuse Act 2021 (Commencement No. 2) Regulations 2021
News (17/09/2021) - New Family Division Liaison Judge appointed for the North Eastern Circuit
News (17/09/2021) - Court reporting in the digital age: Justice Committee inquiry
News (17/09/2021) - Review published into safeguarding babies from non-accidental injury caused by male carers
News (17/09/2021) - New cross-system approach needed to prevent violence against women and girls
News (17/09/2021) - Divorce applications move online
News (12/09/2021) - Family Proceedings Fees Order amended
News (12/09/2021) - Domestic Abuse Support (Local Authority Strategies and Annual Reports) Regulations 2021
News (12/09/2021) - Increases to emergency cost limit for legal aid work
News (12/09/2021) - Cafcass launches the ‘Together with Children and Families’ framework
News (12/09/2021) - Family Rights Group secures funding to improve early and pre-proceedings work with families
News (12/09/2021) - Government committed to reform of the Mental Health Act
News (05/09/2021) - Judicial review applications down 16 per cent in first half of this year
News (05/09/2021) - Voucher scheme for family mediation extended by government
News (05/09/2021) - Change to family legal advice via the Civil Legal Advice helpline
News (05/09/2021) - Call for evidence on dispute resolution extended to 31 October 2021
News (05/09/2021) - ‘Bride price’ judgment due
News (21/08/2021) - Judge makes appeal for return of Knox Jefferies
News (21/08/2021) - £20 million to provide more early help for vulnerable families
News (21/08/2021) - Care leavers and council tax – Welsh Government consults
News (21/08/2021) - Marriage rates for opposite-sex couples in 2018 the lowest on record
News (15/08/2021) - Police awarded £11.3m for programmes to prevent domestic abuse and stalking crimes
News (15/08/2021) - Eleven Practice Directions updated
News (15/08/2021) - New public law cases received by Cafcass fell by 14 per cent in July
News (13/08/2021) - New private law cases received by Cafcass in July fell by over 16 per cent
News (13/08/2021) - Dispute Resolution in England and Wales: Call for Evidence
News (06/08/2021) - Emotionally charged: costs on divorce and dissolution
News (06/08/2021) - President of the Family Division’s transparency review update
News (06/08/2021) - European Convention on Human Rights protocol no. 15 comes into force
News (06/08/2021) - Domestic Abuse Act: statutory guidance consultation launched
News (06/08/2021) - Organisations call on Education Secretary to protect the rights of unaccompanied children in Kent
News (06/08/2021) - Supreme Court upholds the use of the inherent jurisdiction to authorise the deprivation of liberty of 15-year old
News (30/07/2021) - Number of old CSA cases dealt with by Child Maintenance Service below 50,000
News (30/07/2021) - Domestic Abuse Act 2021: six more factsheets published
News (29/07/2021) - Legal aid needs urgent reform to secure fairness of the justice system: Commons Justice Committee
News (29/07/2021) - Government publishes strategy ‘to deliver excellence’ in adoption services across England
News (29/07/2021) - Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2021
News (25/07/2021) - Family Procedure (Amendment No. 2) Rules 2021
News (25/07/2021) - Supreme Court to give judgment in case concerning inherent jurisdiction to authorise child's placement in unregistered secure accommodation
News (25/07/2021) - Robert Edwards reappointed to Family Procedure Rule Committee
News (25/07/2021) - Lasting Powers of Attorney: consultation launched
News (25/07/2021) - Law Commission recommends reforms to protect victims of online abuse
News (25/07/2021) - Government launches strategy for tackling violence against women and girls
News (25/07/2021) - Bar Council responds to introduction of Judicial Review and Courts Bill
News (25/07/2021) - New report reveals a quarter wished for mediation or arbitration as answer to divorce
News (25/07/2021) - Professionals say remote hearings in the family court still need improvements to ensure fairness
News (25/07/2021) - Settlement reached in Akhmedov divorce case
News (18/07/2021) - Cohabiting couples to benefit from changes to bereavement benefit rules
News (17/07/2021) - Cafcass Prioritisation Protocol now in use in Midlands areas
News (17/07/2021) - Digital divorce service to replace paper D8 form from September 2021
News (17/07/2021) - A View from The President’s Chambers: July 2021
News (17/07/2021) - Guidance on Allocation and Gatekeeping for Care, Supervision and other Proceedings under Part IV of the Children Act 1989 (Public Law) 2014
News (17/07/2021) - Children’s homes inquiry: Commons Education Committee
News (17/07/2021) - Lord Chancellor questioned on Human Rights Act reforms
News (17/07/2021) - Message from Mr Justice Mostyn: Standard orders
News (09/07/2021) - Marriage venues
News (09/07/2021) - Domestic Abuse Act 2021 (Commencement No. 1 and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2021
News (09/07/2021) - Appointment of the Official Solicitor in property and affairs proceedings: practice note
News (09/07/2021) - Appointment of the Official Solicitor in welfare proceedings: practice note
News (09/07/2021) - City of Wolverhampton Council to improve its adoption recruitment process
News (09/07/2021) - 8th Family Law & Children’s Rights Conference to take place from 12 to 16 July
News (04/07/2021) - Domestic abuse: Support for victims and survivors
News (04/07/2021) - Marriages and Civil Partnerships (Approved Premises) (Amendment) Regulations 2021
News (04/07/2021) - Regional and local support for LiPs underway in England and Wales
News (04/07/2021) - Pandemic leads to 44 per cent decrease in cases handled by Forced Marriage Unit in 2020
News (04/07/2021) - Gingerbread calls on the Government to scrap unfair child maintenance fees
News (04/07/2021) - Bill to raise minimum age of marriage to 18 taken over by Pauline Latham
News (04/07/2021) - Court of Appeal hears appeal concerning puberty-blocking drugs
News (27/06/2021) - New public law cases received by Cafcass fell by 4 per cent in May
News (27/06/2021) - New private law cases received by Cafcass in May rose by 6 per cent
News (27/06/2021) - Domestic Abuse Act 2021 (Processing of Victims’ Data for Immigration Purposes) (Extension of Relevant Period) Regulations 2021
News (27/06/2021) - Child Support (Collection and Enforcement and Maintenance Calculation) (Amendment) Regulations 2021
News (27/06/2021) - Family court activity increases across most case types during January to March 2021
News (25/06/2021) - Legal aid expended on private family law increases by 21 per cent
News (25/06/2021) - Family mediation starts increased by 33 per cent in January to March 2021
News (25/06/2021) - Ombudsman finds London council failed to keep child safe
News (25/06/2021) - CCLC warns of shortfall in children securing status through EU Settlement Scheme
News (25/06/2021) - Kinship Care (Parental Leave) Bill introduced
News (25/06/2021) - The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care publishes early thinking
News (20/06/2021) - Directory of legal aid processes restarting after Covid-19 contingency published by LAA
News (20/06/2021)
Information on business as usual restart dates and changes to current operational Covid-19 contingency ways of working - Court judgments to get new home
News (20/06/2021) - Outdoor civil wedding and partnership registrations to be legalised
News (20/06/2021) - Getting paid – top tips on family legal aid billing
News (18/06/2021) - Cafcass publishes new Domestic Abuse Learning and Improvement Plan
News (18/06/2021) - Child maintenance: consultation launched on modernising and improving the service
News (18/06/2021) - Domestic abuse support within safe accommodation: statutory guidance and regulations consultation
News (18/06/2021) - Marriage by under-18s to be outlawed, pledges government
News (14/06/2021) - Five members appointed to Family Procedure Rule Committee and one member reappointed
News (11/06/2021) - Family foster carers could be due backdated payments following Ombudsman investigation
News (11/06/2021) - Select Committee opens inquiry into VAWG with evidence from Domestic Abuse Commissioner, Refuge and Centre for Women’s Justice
News (11/06/2021) - ‘Culture change needed to tackle “normalised” sexual harassment in schools and colleges’
News (11/06/2021)
Ofsted publishes review - Launch of rapid consultation on remote, hybrid and in-person hearings in the family justice system
News (11/06/2021) - Narcissism in personal relationships
News (06/06/2021) - Domestic Abuse Toolkit for Employers updated
News (06/06/2021) - Eight in 10 councils forced to overspend on children’s social care budgets
News (06/06/2021) - Care leavers could receive extra housing support
News (04/06/2021) - Report Abuse in Education helpline receives hundreds of calls since April launch
News (04/06/2021) - Number of children accommodated in secure homes decreases by 23 per cent
News (04/06/2021) - Homelessness and young people
News (22/05/2021) - Domestic Abuse Act 2021: factsheets
News (22/05/2021) - Fees in the Family and Civil Courts – main fees
News (21/05/2021) - Judges must consider interests of child when sentencing mother, urges Committee
News (21/05/2021) - Dramatic rise in child poverty in North East England in the last five years shows the scale of the ‘levelling up’ challenge
News (21/05/2021) - New public law cases received by Cafcass fell slightly in April
News (21/05/2021) - New private law cases received by Cafcass in April rose by more than 40 per cent
News (21/05/2021) - Court of Appeal permits Russian wife to bring billion dollar High Court case
News (16/05/2021) - One in four contemplate leaving family law following lockdown: Resolution survey
News (16/05/2021) - Current provision of Domestic Abuse Perpetrator Programmes
News (16/05/2021) - Mr Justice Cohen retires
News (16/05/2021) - Domestic Abuse Act 2021 commencement schedule
News (16/05/2021) - Government responds to inquiry into child sexual abuse in secure children’s homes
News (09/05/2021) - Experts and the Family Justice System: Widening the Pool
News (09/05/2021) - New suite of Judicial Review Practice Directions issued
News (09/05/2021) - New pilot Practice Direction 36W: communicating forced marriage and FGM protection orders to the police
News (09/05/2021) - Family Court (Composition and Distribution of Business) (Amendment) Rules 2021
News (09/05/2021) - Domestic Abuse Bill becomes law
News (09/05/2021) - Tatiana Akhmedova granted judgments in £453 million divorce case
News (25/04/2021) - Kent teen left to live in tent during Covid crisis
News (25/04/2021) - Legal aid: notice of extension to the 2018 Standard Civil Contract
News (25/04/2021) - Mrs Justice Lieven appointed Family Division Liaison Judge for the Midland Circuit
News (25/04/2021) - Home Affairs Committee launches inquiries into rape and violence against women and girls
News (25/04/2021) - Biggest ever consultation with children in England launched by the Children’s Commissioner
News (25/04/2021) - Protocol for London and South East on domestic abuse applications being made outside the applicant’s area
News (25/04/2021) - Amendments to standard public law orders: message from Mr Justice Mostyn
News (25/04/2021) - New private law cases received by Cafcass in March rose by more than a third
News (18/04/2021) - New public law cases received by Cafcass rose by more than 13 per cent in March
Judgments (18/04/2021) - Survey supports recommendations for a review of supervision orders in care proceedings
News (18/04/2021) - LAPG launches 2021 Legal Aid Census ‘to show true state of social justice sector’
News (18/04/2021) - BASW England releases new Domestic Abuse Guidance for social workers
News (18/04/2021) - Domestic Abuse Bill: Progress of the Bill
News (11/04/2021) - Funding available for councils to support more families to resolve parental conflict
News (11/04/2021) - Civil Partnership (Registration and Records) (Amendment) Regulations 2021
News (11/04/2021) - Registration of Marriages Regulations 2021
News (11/04/2021) - Marriage and Civil Partnership (Conversion of Civil Partnership and Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2021
News (11/04/2021) - Court of Appeal issues guidance on domestic abuse hearings and findings of fact
News (11/04/2021) - New Victims’ Code provides for victims of sexual violence or domestic abuse
News (11/04/2021) - 56 per cent of separated families in Great Britain have a child maintenance arrangement
News (29/03/2021) - Mediation has increased since last year and now exceeds pre-COVID-19 levels
News (29/03/2021) - Care cases now taking 41 weeks to first disposal
News (29/03/2021) - New pilot Practice Direction 36V reflects the existence of the Family Mediation Voucher Scheme
News (26/03/2021) - £1 million voucher scheme to help families resolve disputes outside of court
News (26/03/2021) - Committee takes evidence on Government’s Independent Review of the Human Rights Act
News (26/03/2021) - BASW England raise further concerns over the conduct of the Review of Children’s Social Care
News (26/03/2021) - Cafcass publishes organisational guidance on working with children through Covid-19
News (26/03/2021) - Recovery message from the President of the Family Division
News (26/03/2021) - Judicial Review consultation launched
Judgments (21/03/2021) - Supreme Court allows mother’s appeal in 1980 Hague Convention / asylum case
News (21/03/2021) - New film to mark the launch of an agenda for change in Special Guardianship
News (21/03/2021) - Ombudsman issues guide for dealing with children’s statutory complaints
News (21/03/2021) - Home Affairs Committee announces inquiry into Violence Against Women and Girls
News (21/03/2021) - Children in care homes: Education Committee launches call for written evidence
News (21/03/2021) - Children’s Commissioner launches ‘Beveridge Report for children’
News (21/03/2021) - Almost all young women in the UK have been sexually harassed, YouGov poll finds
News (21/03/2021) - New public law cases received by Cafcass fell by 2 per cent in February
News (14/03/2021) - New private law cases received by Cafcass in February rose slightly on 2020
News (14/03/2021) - Adoption and Children (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2021
News (14/03/2021) - CMA launches study of children’s social care provision
News (14/03/2021) - Violence Against Women and Girls Call for Evidence reopened
News (14/03/2021) - Supreme Court to hand down judgment in 1980 Hague Convention / asylum case
News (12/03/2021) - Intercountry adoption: exception requests
News (12/03/2021) - Human Rights Commissions questioned on enforcement of human rights across the UK
News (12/03/2021) - Review of the controlling or coercive behaviour offence published
News (07/03/2021) - No case for reform of the Human Rights Act, says Joint Committee on Human Rights
News (07/03/2021) - Dame Rachel de Souza begins her term as Children’s Commissioner for England
News (07/03/2021) - BASW UK responds to Government Independent Review of the Human Rights Act
News (07/03/2021) - President’s Public Law Working Group report published
News (07/03/2021) - New laws to protect victims added to Domestic Abuse Bill
News (01/03/2021) - Disabled people more likely to suffer domestic abuse than non-disabled
News (28/02/2021) - Domestic Abuse Bill to proceed to Lords report stage on 8 March
News (28/02/2021) - Reforms to laws around intimate image abuse proposed to better protect victims
News (26/02/2021)
Law Commission consults on proposals - Message from the President of the Family Division: The Financial Remedies Courts
Judgments (26/02/2021) - ADCS report highlights safeguarding pressures before and during pandemic
News (26/02/2021) - Domestic abuse in Wales and Covid-19
News (21/02/2021) - Family Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2021
News (19/02/2021) - Children in care homes: Education Committee to launch new inquiry
News (19/02/2021) - Unregulated accommodation banned for vulnerable children under 16
News (19/02/2021) - Launch of supervision order survey by National Family Justice Observatory
News (19/02/2021) - Civil legal aid bills consultation launched
News (14/02/2021) - Councils must give parents clear information during safeguarding investigations
News (14/02/2021) - Legal Services Board data demonstrate fluctuating demand for family law services during pandemic
News (14/02/2021) - 'Single parents more likely to experience problem debt and live in persistent poverty'
News (14/02/2021)
New report from Gingerbread - Family Division’s Transparency Review: Update
News (14/02/2021) - Changes to the Adoption and Children (Coronavirus) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2020
News (14/02/2021)
DfE launches consultation - Note all Financial Remedies Practitioners
News (08/02/2021) - Privy Council hears appeal concerning same-sex marriage
News (07/02/2021) - Civil Procedure (Amendment) Rules 2021
Judgments (07/02/2021) - Home Affairs Committee investigates domestic abuse during Covid-19 pandemic
News (05/02/2021)
New data show steep rise in cases - ‘Duty on local authorities to fund community-based services should be included in the Domestic Abuse Bill’
News (05/02/2021)
Joint call from Commissioners to the Government - New help for divorcing couples as they are urged to consider sharing their pensions
News (31/01/2021) - 'Private equity involvement in care placements needs reviewing'
News (31/01/2021)
Local Government Association expresses concern about profit and debt levels - Number of open CSA cases decreased to 71,700 in September 2020
News (29/01/2021) - Calls to NSPCC about children living in violent homes rise by over 50 per cent
News (29/01/2021) - Councils urged to learn from Ombudsman investigation into child abuse complaint
News (29/01/2021) - Civil legal aid application forms changed to reflect new eligibility criteria
News (29/01/2021) - Domestic Abuse Bill enters committee stage
News (29/01/2021) - Financial Remedy Court organogram
News (29/01/2021) - Damage to children’s mental health caused by Covid crisis demands major increase for children’s mental health services
News (29/01/2021)
Children's Commissioner publishes fourth annual report on the state of children’s mental health services in England - New public law cases received by Cafcass rose by nearly 5 per cent in December
News (24/01/2021) - New private law cases received by Cafcass in December rose 9 per cent on 2019
News (24/01/2021) - Special Restrictions on Adoptions from Abroad (Nigeria) Order 2021
News (22/01/2021) - Firms should check whether they need to register as doing tax advice work
News (22/01/2021) - Government publishes new strategy to protect children from sexual abuse
News (22/01/2021) - Independent Human Rights Act Review: Parliamentary Committee calls for evidence
News (22/01/2021) - Politicians must come up with ‘a big, bold plan’ to fix child poverty: Children’s Commissioner
News (22/01/2021) - Independent Human Rights Act Review issues call for evidence
Judgments (17/01/2021) - New rules for legal practice: guidance for legal professionals
News (17/01/2021) - Workplace support for victims of domestic abuse: review report
News (17/01/2021) - Domestic abuse victim not supported properly by Wandsworth council when she became homeless
News (15/01/2021) - Human Rights Committee to hear from those whose right to a family life has been undermined by long lockdown
News (15/01/2021) - Education Secretary launches review of children’s social care
News (15/01/2021) - Continuing application of the Choice of Court Convention and Child Support Convention for the United Kingdom
News (10/01/2021) - Lady Black retires from the Supreme Court
News (10/01/2021) - Amendments to Family Procedure Rules
News (10/01/2021) - Amendments to civil legal aid eligibility criteria
News (10/01/2021) - Cafcass publishes updated organisational guidance on working with children through Covid-19
News (10/01/2021) - Domestic Abuse Bill receives second reading in Lords
News (10/01/2021) - Message from the President of the Family Division: The Road Ahead 2021
News (10/01/2021)