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News & resources

News relating to: Child protection and care proceedings

Can a convicted sex offender exercise parental responsibility?

In short, yes. A Trainee Solicitor, in the family team Sashina Thapa explains the current law and proposals for reform. A person convicted of a serious sexual offence against a child can still exercise parental responsibility As the law stands, ...

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03.12.2024

Separate care arrangements for siblings

Lorraine Green acted for two children, aged 16 and 4, when the local authority applied for a care order for the older child and a supervision order for the younger one in 2020. The older child was a girl who ...

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22.02.2023

Supporting a teenager through local authority care proceedings

Gemma Hodder supported a teenage girl over two years while the local authority pursued care proceedings for our client and a younger child. The young person had been living with her older sister, since her mother had died and her ...

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01.03.2022

Thumbnail image - Case report: Brothers kept together with support under a care order

Brothers kept together with support under Care Order

Case report: Confidential children’s care proceedings. Lorraine Green represented two brothers in relation to care proceedings brought by the local authority, following concerns about their parent’s capacity to protect them in light of drug and alcohol misuse, domestic abuse and ...

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14.09.2021

Care order application dismissed after threshold not crossed in alleged non-accidental injury case

Case report: [2021] EWFC B36. A local authority’s application for a care order in respect of two children, issued after the discovery of an alleged non-accidental injury following their sibling’s death, was dismissed and the family was applauded for their ...

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11.08.2021

Thumbnail image - Case report: Do case proceedings allow enough time for parents with a disability to develop parenting skills?

Do care proceedings allow enough time for parents with a disability to develop parenting skills?

Case report: Confidential.  Kate Hammond recently represented children in care proceedings after the local authority raised concerns about their parents, both of whom have learning disabilities. This case has potentially important implications for the way parents with learning disabilities are ...

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01.07.2021

Child maintenance responsibilities enforced in China with a Schedule 1 application

Case report: Confidential Some parents will do anything to try and avoid paying their share of child maintenance, even moving to the other side of the world.  But this does not mean that they are beyond the reach of English ...

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24.08.2020

FGM order confirms ‘a child’s welfare is paramount’ in Court of Appeal case where schoolgirl was at risk of deportation

Case report: [2020] EWCA Civ 731. Kate Hammond has helped secure the welfare of a Suffolk schoolgirl in a landmark case where the local authority’s petition for a female genital mutilation (FGM) protection order was disputed by the Home Office.  ...

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10.07.2020

An image of a dirty, discarded doll to represent homelessness or abuse

Family court cannot interfere with decision of immigration tribunal in FGM case

Case report: [2020] EWHC 323 (Fam). One reason for seeking asylum in the UK might be to escape harmful practices, such as the risk of female genital mutilation (FGM).  But how does the law in regard to FGM interact with ...

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01.03.2020