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Friday, Jan 17 2014 3PM 8°C 6PM 7°C 5-Day Forecast
- Was missing Mikaeel spotted just hours after he vanished? Police probe sightings of toddler seen the morning after he disappeared - as his distraught mother says: 'I just want my little boy back'
- Royal baby joy as Zara Phillips gives birth to girl weighing 7lbs 12ozs - and is BACK HOME within a few hours
- Prince Harry takes a desk job: Royal action man quits his job as an Apache helicopter pilot to help Queen with planning public ceremonies
- Finally! President Hollande visits his First Lady in hospital as his mistress is forced to deny claims she is pregnant
- British diplomat who fell to his death from Romanian hotel ‘left a note saying he was depressed about not starting a family'
- Does even Diet Coke make you FAT? Sugar-free fizzy drinks make people eat more food
- 'Go on, you Muslim, die': Shocking moment smirking Lidl shop assistant racially abused a Muslim customer in row over plastic bags
- EastEnders in race row after Asian character's 'white woman' comment
- American Apparel stirs up controversy for giving mannequins pubic hair in its New York shop
- Millionaire owner of one of Britain's top schools ordered to pay £50,000 for failing to have fire safety measures in place
- Speeding van driver was TEXTING at 85mph moments before he smashed into a horsebox and was killed
- The rise of the 'Insta-babes': The bikini queens turning Instagram selfies into big business
- Keep your hair on, Prime Minister: Cameron reveals his top priority for 2014 is keeping his BALD SPOT under control
- Now opera gets sexy: Singer who stripped down to a leopard-print leotard says performers SHOULD embrace their sexuality (just not 'desperate' Miley Cyrus)
- King Alfred the Great's bones discovered inside a MUSEUM: Remains inside box are thought to belong to Anglo-Saxon ruler
- TWO MILLION under-8s now own a tablet (and parents fear their children are becoming addicted to gadgets)
- Parents who do ALL the homework: One in six admits they regularly do their children's work
- 'I was so fat I derailed a TRAIN': Mother, 30, is shamed into losing seven-and-a-half stone after her 20st bulk brought a miniature railway to a standstill
- Nelson Mandela's grandson charged with serious assault and pointing a firearm following row with a teacher
- Drug grower sues police for wrecking her home during raid when they found cannabis farm
- 'He jumped almost like someone shot him': Shocking moment weight-lifter was left paralysed after falling barbell severed his spine
- Polish MP slams poor UK schools: Politician says immigrants are taking jobs here because they are better educated and work harder than Britons
- Are too many students now gaining first class degrees? Record number handed out amid fears universities are lowering standards
- The REAL feud between two brothers that inspired Sherlock TV plot: How rivalry between detective and Mycroft is based on troubled past of the writer's OWN sibling
- Home
- News
- U.S.
- Sport
- TV&Showbiz
- Femail
- Health
- Science
- Money
- Video
- Coffee Break
- Travel
- Fashion Finder
Friday, Jan 17 2014 3PM 8°C 6PM 7°C 5-Day Forecast
- Was missing Mikaeel spotted just hours after he vanished? Police probe sightings of toddler seen the morning after he disappeared - as his distraught mother says: 'I just want my little boy back'
- Royal baby joy as Zara Phillips gives birth to girl weighing 7lbs 12ozs - and is BACK HOME within a few hours
- Prince Harry takes a desk job: Royal action man quits his job as an Apache helicopter pilot to help Queen with planning public ceremonies
- Finally! President Hollande visits his First Lady in hospital as his mistress is forced to deny claims she is pregnant
- British diplomat who fell to his death from Romanian hotel ‘left a note saying he was depressed about not starting a family'
- Does even Diet Coke make you FAT? Sugar-free fizzy drinks make people eat more food
- 'Go on, you Muslim, die': Shocking moment smirking Lidl shop assistant racially abused a Muslim customer in row over plastic bags
- EastEnders in race row after Asian character's 'white woman' comment
- American Apparel stirs up controversy for giving mannequins pubic hair in its New York shop
- Millionaire owner of one of Britain's top schools ordered to pay £50,000 for failing to have fire safety measures in place
- Speeding van driver was TEXTING at 85mph moments before he smashed into a horsebox and was killed
- The rise of the 'Insta-babes': The bikini queens turning Instagram selfies into big business
- Keep your hair on, Prime Minister: Cameron reveals his top priority for 2014 is keeping his BALD SPOT under control
- Now opera gets sexy: Singer who stripped down to a leopard-print leotard says performers SHOULD embrace their sexuality (just not 'desperate' Miley Cyrus)
- King Alfred the Great's bones discovered inside a MUSEUM: Remains inside box are thought to belong to Anglo-Saxon ruler
- TWO MILLION under-8s now own a tablet (and parents fear their children are becoming addicted to gadgets)
- Parents who do ALL the homework: One in six admits they regularly do their children's work
- 'I was so fat I derailed a TRAIN': Mother, 30, is shamed into losing seven-and-a-half stone after her 20st bulk brought a miniature railway to a standstill
- Nelson Mandela's grandson charged with serious assault and pointing a firearm following row with a teacher
- Drug grower sues police for wrecking her home during raid when they found cannabis farm
- 'He jumped almost like someone shot him': Shocking moment weight-lifter was left paralysed after falling barbell severed his spine
- Polish MP slams poor UK schools: Politician says immigrants are taking jobs here because they are better educated and work harder than Britons
- Are too many students now gaining first class degrees? Record number handed out amid fears universities are lowering standards
- The REAL feud between two brothers that inspired Sherlock TV plot: How rivalry between detective and Mycroft is based on troubled past of the writer's OWN sibling
At last! Victory on secret courts: Rulings in family cases to be made public after Mail campaign
- Family Court and Court of Protection judgements will now be made public
- Expert witnesses, including social workers, are to be named
- Councils applying to take children into care can no longer claim anonymity
- New rules laid down by President of the Family Division Sir James Munby
- Daily Mail has exposed a series of major scandals over the past year
- These have resulted from justice being conducted behind closed doors
PUBLISHED: 23:12, 16 January 2014 | UPDATED: 23:12, 16 January 2014
+5
Landmark ruling: President of the Family Division Sir James Munby
Decisions by secret courts that can lead to children being taken from their parents or old people forced into care homes are finally to be opened up to public scrutiny.
Under rules set out yesterday, future judgments in the family courts and the Court of Protection must be made public except in cases where there is a clear reason to dictate they should not be.
Councils applying to take children into care or to take control of the lives of the old and sick can no longer hide behind a cloak of anonymity.
Expert witnesses, including social workers, should also be named in public, as should anyone found responsible for wrongdoing.
The landmark changes break a silence that has surrounded family justice for nearly 100 years.
They also mark a major victory for the Daily Mail which has campaigned against secret courts and exposed a series of major scandals over the past year resulting from justice being conducted behind closed doors.
The new rules, laid down by the most senior family judge, President of the Family Division Sir James Munby, say that judgments in the family courts and the Court of Protection must always be publicised unless there are ‘compelling reasons’ why not.
Only children and adults caught up in disputes and members of their families should be protected by anonymity.
- Family Court and Court of Protection judgements will now be made public
- Expert witnesses, including social workers, are to be named
- Councils applying to take children into care can no longer claim anonymity
- New rules laid down by President of the Family Division Sir James Munby
- Daily Mail has exposed a series of major scandals over the past year
- These have resulted from justice being conducted behind closed doors
PUBLISHED: 23:12, 16 January 2014 | UPDATED: 23:12, 16 January 2014
+5
Landmark ruling: President of the Family Division Sir James Munby
Decisions by secret courts that can lead to children being taken from their parents or old people forced into care homes are finally to be opened up to public scrutiny.
Under rules set out yesterday, future judgments in the family courts and the Court of Protection must be made public except in cases where there is a clear reason to dictate they should not be.
Councils applying to take children into care or to take control of the lives of the old and sick can no longer hide behind a cloak of anonymity.
Expert witnesses, including social workers, should also be named in public, as should anyone found responsible for wrongdoing.
The landmark changes break a silence that has surrounded family justice for nearly 100 years.
They also mark a major victory for the Daily Mail which has campaigned against secret courts and exposed a series of major scandals over the past year resulting from justice being conducted behind closed doors.
The new rules, laid down by the most senior family judge, President of the Family Division Sir James Munby, say that judgments in the family courts and the Court of Protection must always be publicised unless there are ‘compelling reasons’ why not.
Only children and adults caught up in disputes and members of their families should be protected by anonymity.
More...
- Three people who have taken-on Google for using personal information to push targeted advertising at them have won a High Court victory to bring the internet giant to trial
- Ecclestone faces bribery charges: Formula One boss alleged to have made secret payments to German banker
- The stench of scandal: Activist unloads tonnes of horse manure in front of France's parliament building in protest at Hollande
The guidelines warn that secrecy prevents families who have been involved in cases from complaining when they believe they have suffered injustice.
Sir James said in guidance sent to judges that there would be ‘an immediate and significant change in practice in relation to the publication of judgments in family courts and the Court of Protection’.
+5
Changes: Future judgments in the family courts and the Court of Protection must now be made public except in cases where there is a clear reason to dictate they should not be
+5
He added: ‘In both courts there is a need for greater transparency in order to improve public understanding of the court process and confidence in the court system.
‘At present too few judgments are made available to the public, which has a legitimate interest in being able to read what is being done by judges in its name.’
The Mail’s campaign revealed last April that the Court of Protection – set up by the last Labour government to deal with the affairs of those too ill to make decisions for themselves – had jailed a woman in secret and without publishing any record.
A Birmingham judge imprisoned Wanda Maddocks, 50, for contempt of court for trying to get her father out of a care home where he had been ordered to stay.
Miss Maddocks had no lawyer to represent her, and no judgment was published. She served six weeks.
+5
In December we revealed how an Italian mother who had been forced by the Court of Protection to have a caesarean begged a family court judge in vain to allow her to keep her baby.
Everything that happened to the mother, Alessandra Pacchieri, was decided by the courts in secret.
In the same month we disclosed the case of the ‘irreproachable’ father who spent 12 years and £100,000 in the family courts trying to win the right to see his 14-year-old daughter – and who still has not won his case for access.
Currently, secrecy in the family courts – which can remove children from dangerous parents, order them to be adopted, and decide on their custody – is governed by 1960 law.
This makes it contempt of court to discuss a case when no judgment has been published, a crime punishable by two years in prison. Successive attempts to open up the courts have been thwarted.
+5
In 2006, Labour Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer blocked a law that would have allowed more light in because state-subsidised charities such as the NSPCC and the National Children’s Bureau opposed the idea.
Labour’s 2005 Mental Capacity Act, pushed through by Lord Falconer, set up the Court of Protection. Its rules say ‘the general rule is that a hearing is to be held in private’.
Sir James Munby, who took over a year ago as President of the Family Division, which includes responsibility for both courts, said his new guidance would take effect from February 3.
He added that further guidance and formal legal practice directions will follow. There may yet be full Parliamentary legislation, although Sir James said this is ‘unlikely in the near future.’
He said that current rules are ‘inappropriate where family members wish to discuss their experiences in public, identifying themselves and making use of the judgement.
‘Equally, they may be inappropriate in cases where findings have been made against a person and the court concludes it is in the public interest for that person to be identified.’
- Three people who have taken-on Google for using personal information to push targeted advertising at them have won a High Court victory to bring the internet giant to trial
- Ecclestone faces bribery charges: Formula One boss alleged to have made secret payments to German banker
- The stench of scandal: Activist unloads tonnes of horse manure in front of France's parliament building in protest at Hollande
The guidelines warn that secrecy prevents families who have been involved in cases from complaining when they believe they have suffered injustice.
Sir James said in guidance sent to judges that there would be ‘an immediate and significant change in practice in relation to the publication of judgments in family courts and the Court of Protection’.
+5
Changes: Future judgments in the family courts and the Court of Protection must now be made public except in cases where there is a clear reason to dictate they should not be
+5
He added: ‘In both courts there is a need for greater transparency in order to improve public understanding of the court process and confidence in the court system.
‘At present too few judgments are made available to the public, which has a legitimate interest in being able to read what is being done by judges in its name.’
The Mail’s campaign revealed last April that the Court of Protection – set up by the last Labour government to deal with the affairs of those too ill to make decisions for themselves – had jailed a woman in secret and without publishing any record.
A Birmingham judge imprisoned Wanda Maddocks, 50, for contempt of court for trying to get her father out of a care home where he had been ordered to stay.
Miss Maddocks had no lawyer to represent her, and no judgment was published. She served six weeks.
+5
In December we revealed how an Italian mother who had been forced by the Court of Protection to have a caesarean begged a family court judge in vain to allow her to keep her baby.
Everything that happened to the mother, Alessandra Pacchieri, was decided by the courts in secret.
In the same month we disclosed the case of the ‘irreproachable’ father who spent 12 years and £100,000 in the family courts trying to win the right to see his 14-year-old daughter – and who still has not won his case for access.
Currently, secrecy in the family courts – which can remove children from dangerous parents, order them to be adopted, and decide on their custody – is governed by 1960 law.
This makes it contempt of court to discuss a case when no judgment has been published, a crime punishable by two years in prison. Successive attempts to open up the courts have been thwarted.
+5
In 2006, Labour Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer blocked a law that would have allowed more light in because state-subsidised charities such as the NSPCC and the National Children’s Bureau opposed the idea.
Labour’s 2005 Mental Capacity Act, pushed through by Lord Falconer, set up the Court of Protection. Its rules say ‘the general rule is that a hearing is to be held in private’.
Sir James Munby, who took over a year ago as President of the Family Division, which includes responsibility for both courts, said his new guidance would take effect from February 3.
He added that further guidance and formal legal practice directions will follow. There may yet be full Parliamentary legislation, although Sir James said this is ‘unlikely in the near future.’
He said that current rules are ‘inappropriate where family members wish to discuss their experiences in public, identifying themselves and making use of the judgement.
‘Equally, they may be inappropriate in cases where findings have been made against a person and the court concludes it is in the public interest for that person to be identified.’
Share what you think
The comments below have been moderated in advance.
thomasR, pontypandy, United Kingdom, 4 hours ago
Justice has to be *seen* to be done. This is not an optional extra. It's how justice works.
4
96
Click to rate
No to the EU, England, United Kingdom, 4 hours ago
About time too, secret courts are so wrong. There are enough provisions to keep sensitive issues out of the public's knowledge if need be. No courts should be secret in our once open society !!
3
104
Click to rate
Kelm, Staffs, 4 hours ago
Clearly by secrecy, you mean confidentiality?!
36
27
Click to rate
Mark, EUSSR, United Kingdom, 4 hours ago
You cannot have secret courts in a democracy,but then again being a member of the EUSSR is hardly democratic is it?
5
92
Click to rate
Anne, UK, United Kingdom, 4 hours ago
Having watched Panorama's "I want my baby back", I hope this is a step in the right direction. The documentary brought me to tears, so heart breaking for the families involved.
5
90
Click to rate
Ted, Donny, United Kingdom, 4 hours ago
Blair and Blair to thank for this injustice.
11
73
Click to rate
ken, bedford, 4 hours ago
This is good. Now time to review the adoption laws. Currently adoptions cannot be reversed. where it is clear that an adoption was enforced with flawed evidence, as in the case of a Norfolk family, then the courts should be allowed to reverse the decision and return children to their real parents.
7
100
Click to rate
Mississauga Dad, Toronto, Canada, 4 hours ago
A few more changes that would really convince people there is serious concern about the family courts. 1. If we could get the courts to rule that children have a fundamental right to a father, a father's love, & a father's full & ongoing participation in their upbringing & life we would REALLY be making progress. As it stands the courts, the gov't, social agencies, & the entire cadre of socialist feminazi lobbies have reduced divorced & separated fathers to being simply a sperm donor & bank machine. 2. Crime statistics in Canada, the U.S., & the U.K. consistently show that men are victims of domestic abuse in numbers almost equal to women. The courts ignore it & in some cases even laugh in the face of men who report it. Is there any consideration whatsoever being given to having a REAL court system that will defend and protect men from their female abusers? 3. Finally, can we get a court system that does not include an automatic 'Gender Discount' for women who commit crimes?
15
71
Click to rate
Bert, London, United Kingdom, 5 hours ago
Now you see why we need a press free from politicians and lobbying minorities because they're the ones causing all the trouble.
4
73
Click to rate
darripetergan, Southport, United Kingdom, 5 hours ago
Family courts should be completely open otherwise justice cannot be seen to be done vis not honest and just.
5
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2540919/At-Victory-secret-courts-Rulings-family-cases-public-Mail-campaign.html#ixzz2qfYrsaRX
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Share what you think
The comments below have been moderated in advance.
thomasR, pontypandy, United Kingdom, 4 hours ago
Justice has to be *seen* to be done. This is not an optional extra. It's how justice works.
4
96
No to the EU, England, United Kingdom, 4 hours ago
About time too, secret courts are so wrong. There are enough provisions to keep sensitive issues out of the public's knowledge if need be. No courts should be secret in our once open society !!
3
104
Kelm, Staffs, 4 hours ago
Clearly by secrecy, you mean confidentiality?!
36
27
Mark, EUSSR, United Kingdom, 4 hours ago
You cannot have secret courts in a democracy,but then again being a member of the EUSSR is hardly democratic is it?
5
92
Anne, UK, United Kingdom, 4 hours ago
Having watched Panorama's "I want my baby back", I hope this is a step in the right direction. The documentary brought me to tears, so heart breaking for the families involved.
5
90
Ted, Donny, United Kingdom, 4 hours ago
Blair and Blair to thank for this injustice.
11
73
ken, bedford, 4 hours ago
This is good. Now time to review the adoption laws. Currently adoptions cannot be reversed. where it is clear that an adoption was enforced with flawed evidence, as in the case of a Norfolk family, then the courts should be allowed to reverse the decision and return children to their real parents.
7
100
Mississauga Dad, Toronto, Canada, 4 hours ago
A few more changes that would really convince people there is serious concern about the family courts. 1. If we could get the courts to rule that children have a fundamental right to a father, a father's love, & a father's full & ongoing participation in their upbringing & life we would REALLY be making progress. As it stands the courts, the gov't, social agencies, & the entire cadre of socialist feminazi lobbies have reduced divorced & separated fathers to being simply a sperm donor & bank machine. 2. Crime statistics in Canada, the U.S., & the U.K. consistently show that men are victims of domestic abuse in numbers almost equal to women. The courts ignore it & in some cases even laugh in the face of men who report it. Is there any consideration whatsoever being given to having a REAL court system that will defend and protect men from their female abusers? 3. Finally, can we get a court system that does not include an automatic 'Gender Discount' for women who commit crimes?
15
71
Bert, London, United Kingdom, 5 hours ago
Now you see why we need a press free from politicians and lobbying minorities because they're the ones causing all the trouble.
4
73
darripetergan, Southport, United Kingdom, 5 hours ago
Family courts should be completely open otherwise justice cannot be seen to be done vis not honest and just.
5
There's only one james munby, one ja.a.a.m.es munby, there's only one james munby
One james munby
There's only one james munby.
Chant along
Under rules laid down by President of the Family Division Sir James Munby, judgments in family courts and the Court of Protection will now be made public
- Home
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- Coffee Break
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- Fashion Finder
Friday, Jan 17 2014 3PM 8°C 6PM 7°C 5-Day Forecast
- Was missing Mikaeel spotted just hours after he vanished? Police probe sightings of toddler seen the morning after he disappeared - as his distraught mother says: 'I just want my little boy back'
- Royal baby joy as Zara Phillips gives birth to girl weighing 7lbs 12ozs - and is BACK HOME within a few hours
- Prince Harry takes a desk job: Royal action man quits his job as an Apache helicopter pilot to help Queen with planning public ceremonies
- Finally! President Hollande visits his First Lady in hospital as his mistress is forced to deny claims she is pregnant
- British diplomat who fell to his death from Romanian hotel ‘left a note saying he was depressed about not starting a family'
- Does even Diet Coke make you FAT? Sugar-free fizzy drinks make people eat more food
- 'Go on, you Muslim, die': Shocking moment smirking Lidl shop assistant racially abused a Muslim customer in row over plastic bags
- EastEnders in race row after Asian character's 'white woman' comment
- American Apparel stirs up controversy for giving mannequins pubic hair in its New York shop
- Millionaire owner of one of Britain's top schools ordered to pay £50,000 for failing to have fire safety measures in place
- Speeding van driver was TEXTING at 85mph moments before he smashed into a horsebox and was killed
- The rise of the 'Insta-babes': The bikini queens turning Instagram selfies into big business
- Keep your hair on, Prime Minister: Cameron reveals his top priority for 2014 is keeping his BALD SPOT under control
- Now opera gets sexy: Singer who stripped down to a leopard-print leotard says performers SHOULD embrace their sexuality (just not 'desperate' Miley Cyrus)
- King Alfred the Great's bones discovered inside a MUSEUM: Remains inside box are thought to belong to Anglo-Saxon ruler
- TWO MILLION under-8s now own a tablet (and parents fear their children are becoming addicted to gadgets)
- Parents who do ALL the homework: One in six admits they regularly do their children's work
- 'I was so fat I derailed a TRAIN': Mother, 30, is shamed into losing seven-and-a-half stone after her 20st bulk brought a miniature railway to a standstill
- Nelson Mandela's grandson charged with serious assault and pointing a firearm following row with a teacher
- Drug grower sues police for wrecking her home during raid when they found cannabis farm
- 'He jumped almost like someone shot him': Shocking moment weight-lifter was left paralysed after falling barbell severed his spine
- Polish MP slams poor UK schools: Politician says immigrants are taking jobs here because they are better educated and work harder than Britons
- Are too many students now gaining first class degrees? Record number handed out amid fears universities are lowering standards
- The REAL feud between two brothers that inspired Sherlock TV plot: How rivalry between detective and Mycroft is based on troubled past of the writer's OWN sibling
At last! Victory on secret courts: Rulings in family cases to be made public after Mail campaign
- Family Court and Court of Protection judgements will now be made public
- Expert witnesses, including social workers, are to be named
- Councils applying to take children into care can no longer claim anonymity
- New rules laid down by President of the Family Division Sir James Munby
- Daily Mail has exposed a series of major scandals over the past year
- These have resulted from justice being conducted behind closed doors
PUBLISHED: 23:12, 16 January 2014 | UPDATED: 23:12, 16 January 2014
+5
Landmark ruling: President of the Family Division Sir James Munby
Decisions by secret courts that can lead to children being taken from their parents or old people forced into care homes are finally to be opened up to public scrutiny.
Under rules set out yesterday, future judgments in the family courts and the Court of Protection must be made public except in cases where there is a clear reason to dictate they should not be.
Councils applying to take children into care or to take control of the lives of the old and sick can no longer hide behind a cloak of anonymity.
Expert witnesses, including social workers, should also be named in public, as should anyone found responsible for wrongdoing.
The landmark changes break a silence that has surrounded family justice for nearly 100 years.
They also mark a major victory for the Daily Mail which has campaigned against secret courts and exposed a series of major scandals over the past year resulting from justice being conducted behind closed doors.
The new rules, laid down by the most senior family judge, President of the Family Division Sir James Munby, say that judgments in the family courts and the Court of Protection must always be publicised unless there are ‘compelling reasons’ why not.
Only children and adults caught up in disputes and members of their families should be protected by anonymity.
More...
- Three people who have taken-on Google for using personal information to push targeted advertising at them have won a High Court victory to bring the internet giant to trial
- Ecclestone faces bribery charges: Formula One boss alleged to have made secret payments to German banker
- The stench of scandal: Activist unloads tonnes of horse manure in front of France's parliament building in protest at Hollande
The guidelines warn that secrecy prevents families who have been involved in cases from complaining when they believe they have suffered injustice.
Sir James said in guidance sent to judges that there would be ‘an immediate and significant change in practice in relation to the publication of judgments in family courts and the Court of Protection’.
+5
Changes: Future judgments in the family courts and the Court of Protection must now be made public except in cases where there is a clear reason to dictate they should not be
+5
He added: ‘In both courts there is a need for greater transparency in order to improve public understanding of the court process and confidence in the court system.
‘At present too few judgments are made available to the public, which has a legitimate interest in being able to read what is being done by judges in its name.’
The Mail’s campaign revealed last April that the Court of Protection – set up by the last Labour government to deal with the affairs of those too ill to make decisions for themselves – had jailed a woman in secret and without publishing any record.
A Birmingham judge imprisoned Wanda Maddocks, 50, for contempt of court for trying to get her father out of a care home where he had been ordered to stay.
Miss Maddocks had no lawyer to represent her, and no judgment was published. She served six weeks.
+5
In December we revealed how an Italian mother who had been forced by the Court of Protection to have a caesarean begged a family court judge in vain to allow her to keep her baby.
Everything that happened to the mother, Alessandra Pacchieri, was decided by the courts in secret.
In the same month we disclosed the case of the ‘irreproachable’ father who spent 12 years and £100,000 in the family courts trying to win the right to see his 14-year-old daughter – and who still has not won his case for access.
Currently, secrecy in the family courts – which can remove children from dangerous parents, order them to be adopted, and decide on their custody – is governed by 1960 law.
This makes it contempt of court to discuss a case when no judgment has been published, a crime punishable by two years in prison. Successive attempts to open up the courts have been thwarted.
+5
In 2006, Labour Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer blocked a law that would have allowed more light in because state-subsidised charities such as the NSPCC and the National Children’s Bureau opposed the idea.
Labour’s 2005 Mental Capacity Act, pushed through by Lord Falconer, set up the Court of Protection. Its rules say ‘the general rule is that a hearing is to be held in private’.
Sir James Munby, who took over a year ago as President of the Family Division, which includes responsibility for both courts, said his new guidance would take effect from February 3.
He added that further guidance and formal legal practice directions will follow. There may yet be full Parliamentary legislation, although Sir James said this is ‘unlikely in the near future.’
He said that current rules are ‘inappropriate where family members wish to discuss their experiences in public, identifying themselves and making use of the judgement.
‘Equally, they may be inappropriate in cases where findings have been made against a person and the court concludes it is in the public interest for that person to be identified.’
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The comments below have been moderated in advance.
No to the EU, England, United Kingdom, 4 hours ago
About time too, secret courts are so wrong. There are enough provisions to keep sensitive issues out of the public's knowledge if need be. No courts should be secret in our once open society !!
ken, bedford, 4 hours ago
This is good. Now time to review the adoption laws. Currently adoptions cannot be reversed. where it is clear that an adoption was enforced with flawed evidence, as in the case of a Norfolk family, then the courts should be allowed to reverse the decision and return children to their real parents.
Mississauga Dad, Toronto, Canada, 4 hours ago
A few more changes that would really convince people there is serious concern about the family courts. 1. If we could get the courts to rule that children have a fundamental right to a father, a father's love, & a father's full & ongoing participation in their upbringing & life we would REALLY be making progress. As it stands the courts, the gov't, social agencies, & the entire cadre of socialist feminazi lobbies have reduced divorced & separated fathers to being simply a sperm donor & bank machine. 2. Crime statistics in Canada, the U.S., & the U.K. consistently show that men are victims of domestic abuse in numbers almost equal to women. The courts ignore it & in some cases even laugh in the face of men who report it. Is there any consideration whatsoever being given to having a REAL court system that will defend and protect men from their female abusers? 3. Finally, can we get a court system that does not include an automatic 'Gender Discount' for women who commit crimes?
darripetergan, Southport, United Kingdom, 5 hours ago
Family courts should be completely open otherwise justice cannot be seen to be done vis not honest and just.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2540919/At-Victory-secret-courts-Rulings-family-cases-public-Mail-campaign.html#ixzz2qfYrsaRX
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
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Friday, Jan 17 2014 3PM 8°C 6PM 7°C 5-Day Forecast
- Was missing Mikaeel spotted just hours after he vanished? Police probe sightings of toddler seen the morning after he disappeared - as his distraught mother says: 'I just want my little boy back'
- Royal baby joy as Zara Phillips gives birth to girl weighing 7lbs 12ozs - and is BACK HOME within a few hours
- Prince Harry takes a desk job: Royal action man quits his job as an Apache helicopter pilot to help Queen with planning public ceremonies
- Finally! President Hollande visits his First Lady in hospital as his mistress is forced to deny claims she is pregnant
- British diplomat who fell to his death from Romanian hotel ‘left a note saying he was depressed about not starting a family'
- Does even Diet Coke make you FAT? Sugar-free fizzy drinks make people eat more food
- 'Go on, you Muslim, die': Shocking moment smirking Lidl shop assistant racially abused a Muslim customer in row over plastic bags
- EastEnders in race row after Asian character's 'white woman' comment
- American Apparel stirs up controversy for giving mannequins pubic hair in its New York shop
- Millionaire owner of one of Britain's top schools ordered to pay £50,000 for failing to have fire safety measures in place
- Speeding van driver was TEXTING at 85mph moments before he smashed into a horsebox and was killed
- The rise of the 'Insta-babes': The bikini queens turning Instagram selfies into big business
- Keep your hair on, Prime Minister: Cameron reveals his top priority for 2014 is keeping his BALD SPOT under control
- Now opera gets sexy: Singer who stripped down to a leopard-print leotard says performers SHOULD embrace their sexuality (just not 'desperate' Miley Cyrus)
- King Alfred the Great's bones discovered inside a MUSEUM: Remains inside box are thought to belong to Anglo-Saxon ruler
- TWO MILLION under-8s now own a tablet (and parents fear their children are becoming addicted to gadgets)
- Parents who do ALL the homework: One in six admits they regularly do their children's work
- 'I was so fat I derailed a TRAIN': Mother, 30, is shamed into losing seven-and-a-half stone after her 20st bulk brought a miniature railway to a standstill
- Nelson Mandela's grandson charged with serious assault and pointing a firearm following row with a teacher
- Drug grower sues police for wrecking her home during raid when they found cannabis farm
- 'He jumped almost like someone shot him': Shocking moment weight-lifter was left paralysed after falling barbell severed his spine
- Polish MP slams poor UK schools: Politician says immigrants are taking jobs here because they are better educated and work harder than Britons
- Are too many students now gaining first class degrees? Record number handed out amid fears universities are lowering standards
- The REAL feud between two brothers that inspired Sherlock TV plot: How rivalry between detective and Mycroft is based on troubled past of the writer's OWN sibling
At last! Victory on secret courts: Rulings in family cases to be made public after Mail campaign
- Family Court and Court of Protection judgements will now be made public
- Expert witnesses, including social workers, are to be named
- Councils applying to take children into care can no longer claim anonymity
- New rules laid down by President of the Family Division Sir James Munby
- Daily Mail has exposed a series of major scandals over the past year
- These have resulted from justice being conducted behind closed doors
PUBLISHED: 23:12, 16 January 2014 | UPDATED: 23:12, 16 January 2014
+5
Landmark ruling: President of the Family Division Sir James Munby
Decisions by secret courts that can lead to children being taken from their parents or old people forced into care homes are finally to be opened up to public scrutiny.
Under rules set out yesterday, future judgments in the family courts and the Court of Protection must be made public except in cases where there is a clear reason to dictate they should not be.
Councils applying to take children into care or to take control of the lives of the old and sick can no longer hide behind a cloak of anonymity.
Expert witnesses, including social workers, should also be named in public, as should anyone found responsible for wrongdoing.
The landmark changes break a silence that has surrounded family justice for nearly 100 years.
They also mark a major victory for the Daily Mail which has campaigned against secret courts and exposed a series of major scandals over the past year resulting from justice being conducted behind closed doors.
The new rules, laid down by the most senior family judge, President of the Family Division Sir James Munby, say that judgments in the family courts and the Court of Protection must always be publicised unless there are ‘compelling reasons’ why not.
Only children and adults caught up in disputes and members of their families should be protected by anonymity.
More...
- Three people who have taken-on Google for using personal information to push targeted advertising at them have won a High Court victory to bring the internet giant to trial
- Ecclestone faces bribery charges: Formula One boss alleged to have made secret payments to German banker
- The stench of scandal: Activist unloads tonnes of horse manure in front of France's parliament building in protest at Hollande
The guidelines warn that secrecy prevents families who have been involved in cases from complaining when they believe they have suffered injustice.
Sir James said in guidance sent to judges that there would be ‘an immediate and significant change in practice in relation to the publication of judgments in family courts and the Court of Protection’.
+5
Changes: Future judgments in the family courts and the Court of Protection must now be made public except in cases where there is a clear reason to dictate they should not be
+5
He added: ‘In both courts there is a need for greater transparency in order to improve public understanding of the court process and confidence in the court system.
‘At present too few judgments are made available to the public, which has a legitimate interest in being able to read what is being done by judges in its name.’
The Mail’s campaign revealed last April that the Court of Protection – set up by the last Labour government to deal with the affairs of those too ill to make decisions for themselves – had jailed a woman in secret and without publishing any record.
A Birmingham judge imprisoned Wanda Maddocks, 50, for contempt of court for trying to get her father out of a care home where he had been ordered to stay.
Miss Maddocks had no lawyer to represent her, and no judgment was published. She served six weeks.
+5
In December we revealed how an Italian mother who had been forced by the Court of Protection to have a caesarean begged a family court judge in vain to allow her to keep her baby.
Everything that happened to the mother, Alessandra Pacchieri, was decided by the courts in secret.
In the same month we disclosed the case of the ‘irreproachable’ father who spent 12 years and £100,000 in the family courts trying to win the right to see his 14-year-old daughter – and who still has not won his case for access.
Currently, secrecy in the family courts – which can remove children from dangerous parents, order them to be adopted, and decide on their custody – is governed by 1960 law.
This makes it contempt of court to discuss a case when no judgment has been published, a crime punishable by two years in prison. Successive attempts to open up the courts have been thwarted.
+5
In 2006, Labour Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer blocked a law that would have allowed more light in because state-subsidised charities such as the NSPCC and the National Children’s Bureau opposed the idea.
Labour’s 2005 Mental Capacity Act, pushed through by Lord Falconer, set up the Court of Protection. Its rules say ‘the general rule is that a hearing is to be held in private’.
Sir James Munby, who took over a year ago as President of the Family Division, which includes responsibility for both courts, said his new guidance would take effect from February 3.
He added that further guidance and formal legal practice directions will follow. There may yet be full Parliamentary legislation, although Sir James said this is ‘unlikely in the near future.’
He said that current rules are ‘inappropriate where family members wish to discuss their experiences in public, identifying themselves and making use of the judgement.
‘Equally, they may be inappropriate in cases where findings have been made against a person and the court concludes it is in the public interest for that person to be identified.’
- 'Die you muslim die!' Shop worker abuses customer
- Devil Baby terrorizes New York
- Shocking moment CrossFit athlete is paralyzed by dumbbell
- Woman rushed to hospital after THREE-HOUR orgasm
- Porn star fears her illegal O-sized breasts could kill her
- Former nursery worker Sophee Redhead arrives at Leeds Crown...
- Hilarious video of husky 'saying no' to going into his...
- Python swallows impala whole in 45 minutes
- Visible from Space: 'Colossal' Yorkshire tyre fire
- Gosselin's 13-year-old twins go silent on air
- Kayaker has incredible close encounter with humpback whale
- Official trailer for 12 Years A Slave
Is it the End of Britain? www.moneyweek.com/End-Of-BritainCould the Looming Financial Crisis Mean the End of Britain?
Mediation Help thornessolicitors.co.ukResolution - From Expert Mediators. Experience & Expertise.
Make a Hearing Loss Claim hearing-loss.sapphireclaims.comGet Hearing Loss Compensation. Free Hearing Loss Claim Advice...
Debts Payment www.freshfinance.netConsolidate your Debts into one Monthly Payment. Try our Debt Test.
- Was missing Mikaeel spotted just hours after he vanished?...
- Toddler, three, 'was left alone for 20 minutes before she...
- Junior doctor in tears at inquest after she revealed how...
- Royal baby joy as Zara Phillips gives birth to girl weighing...
- Touching moment CNN reporter breaks down after learning her...
- 'He jumped almost like someone shot him': Shocking moment...
- 'Go on, you Muslim, die': Shocking moment smirking Lidl shop...
- Trois c'est le crowd! The awkward moment when Francois...
- Born into brothels: Behind the scenes of Calcutta's...
- Parents 'sick with worry' as runaways elude police: Public...
- 'This is the 4th time I’ve rung for an ambulance for my...
- Three-year-old boy still missing: Police joined by...
The comments below have been moderated in advance.
No to the EU, England, United Kingdom, 4 hours ago
About time too, secret courts are so wrong. There are enough provisions to keep sensitive issues out of the public's knowledge if need be. No courts should be secret in our once open society !!
ken, bedford, 4 hours ago
This is good. Now time to review the adoption laws. Currently adoptions cannot be reversed. where it is clear that an adoption was enforced with flawed evidence, as in the case of a Norfolk family, then the courts should be allowed to reverse the decision and return children to their real parents.
Mississauga Dad, Toronto, Canada, 4 hours ago
A few more changes that would really convince people there is serious concern about the family courts. 1. If we could get the courts to rule that children have a fundamental right to a father, a father's love, & a father's full & ongoing participation in their upbringing & life we would REALLY be making progress. As it stands the courts, the gov't, social agencies, & the entire cadre of socialist feminazi lobbies have reduced divorced & separated fathers to being simply a sperm donor & bank machine. 2. Crime statistics in Canada, the U.S., & the U.K. consistently show that men are victims of domestic abuse in numbers almost equal to women. The courts ignore it & in some cases even laugh in the face of men who report it. Is there any consideration whatsoever being given to having a REAL court system that will defend and protect men from their female abusers? 3. Finally, can we get a court system that does not include an automatic 'Gender Discount' for women who commit crimes?
darripetergan, Southport, United Kingdom, 5 hours ago
Family courts should be completely open otherwise justice cannot be seen to be done vis not honest and just.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2540919/At-Victory-secret-courts-Rulings-family-cases-public-Mail-campaign.html#ixzz2qfYrsaRX
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
- Home
- News
- U.S.
- Sport
- TV&Showbiz
- Femail
- Health
- Science
- Money
- Video
- Coffee Break
- Travel
- Fashion Finder
Friday, Jan 17 2014 3PM 8°C 6PM 7°C 5-Day Forecast
- Was missing Mikaeel spotted just hours after he vanished? Police probe sightings of toddler seen the morning after he disappeared - as his distraught mother says: 'I just want my little boy back'
- Royal baby joy as Zara Phillips gives birth to girl weighing 7lbs 12ozs - and is BACK HOME within a few hours
- Prince Harry takes a desk job: Royal action man quits his job as an Apache helicopter pilot to help Queen with planning public ceremonies
- Finally! President Hollande visits his First Lady in hospital as his mistress is forced to deny claims she is pregnant
- British diplomat who fell to his death from Romanian hotel ‘left a note saying he was depressed about not starting a family'
- Does even Diet Coke make you FAT? Sugar-free fizzy drinks make people eat more food
- 'Go on, you Muslim, die': Shocking moment smirking Lidl shop assistant racially abused a Muslim customer in row over plastic bags
- EastEnders in race row after Asian character's 'white woman' comment
- American Apparel stirs up controversy for giving mannequins pubic hair in its New York shop
- Millionaire owner of one of Britain's top schools ordered to pay £50,000 for failing to have fire safety measures in place
- Speeding van driver was TEXTING at 85mph moments before he smashed into a horsebox and was killed
- The rise of the 'Insta-babes': The bikini queens turning Instagram selfies into big business
- Keep your hair on, Prime Minister: Cameron reveals his top priority for 2014 is keeping his BALD SPOT under control
- Now opera gets sexy: Singer who stripped down to a leopard-print leotard says performers SHOULD embrace their sexuality (just not 'desperate' Miley Cyrus)
- King Alfred the Great's bones discovered inside a MUSEUM: Remains inside box are thought to belong to Anglo-Saxon ruler
- TWO MILLION under-8s now own a tablet (and parents fear their children are becoming addicted to gadgets)
- Parents who do ALL the homework: One in six admits they regularly do their children's work
- 'I was so fat I derailed a TRAIN': Mother, 30, is shamed into losing seven-and-a-half stone after her 20st bulk brought a miniature railway to a standstill
- Nelson Mandela's grandson charged with serious assault and pointing a firearm following row with a teacher
- Drug grower sues police for wrecking her home during raid when they found cannabis farm
- 'He jumped almost like someone shot him': Shocking moment weight-lifter was left paralysed after falling barbell severed his spine
- Polish MP slams poor UK schools: Politician says immigrants are taking jobs here because they are better educated and work harder than Britons
- Are too many students now gaining first class degrees? Record number handed out amid fears universities are lowering standards
- The REAL feud between two brothers that inspired Sherlock TV plot: How rivalry between detective and Mycroft is based on troubled past of the writer's OWN sibling
At last! Victory on secret courts: Rulings in family cases to be made public after Mail campaign
- Family Court and Court of Protection judgements will now be made public
- Expert witnesses, including social workers, are to be named
- Councils applying to take children into care can no longer claim anonymity
- New rules laid down by President of the Family Division Sir James Munby
- Daily Mail has exposed a series of major scandals over the past year
- These have resulted from justice being conducted behind closed doors
PUBLISHED: 23:12, 16 January 2014 | UPDATED: 23:12, 16 January 2014
+5
Landmark ruling: President of the Family Division Sir James Munby
Decisions by secret courts that can lead to children being taken from their parents or old people forced into care homes are finally to be opened up to public scrutiny.
Under rules set out yesterday, future judgments in the family courts and the Court of Protection must be made public except in cases where there is a clear reason to dictate they should not be.
Councils applying to take children into care or to take control of the lives of the old and sick can no longer hide behind a cloak of anonymity.
Expert witnesses, including social workers, should also be named in public, as should anyone found responsible for wrongdoing.
The landmark changes break a silence that has surrounded family justice for nearly 100 years.
They also mark a major victory for the Daily Mail which has campaigned against secret courts and exposed a series of major scandals over the past year resulting from justice being conducted behind closed doors.
The new rules, laid down by the most senior family judge, President of the Family Division Sir James Munby, say that judgments in the family courts and the Court of Protection must always be publicised unless there are ‘compelling reasons’ why not.
Only children and adults caught up in disputes and members of their families should be protected by anonymity.
More...
- Three people who have taken-on Google for using personal information to push targeted advertising at them have won a High Court victory to bring the internet giant to trial
- Ecclestone faces bribery charges: Formula One boss alleged to have made secret payments to German banker
- The stench of scandal: Activist unloads tonnes of horse manure in front of France's parliament building in protest at Hollande
The guidelines warn that secrecy prevents families who have been involved in cases from complaining when they believe they have suffered injustice.
Sir James said in guidance sent to judges that there would be ‘an immediate and significant change in practice in relation to the publication of judgments in family courts and the Court of Protection’.
+5
Changes: Future judgments in the family courts and the Court of Protection must now be made public except in cases where there is a clear reason to dictate they should not be
+5
He added: ‘In both courts there is a need for greater transparency in order to improve public understanding of the court process and confidence in the court system.
‘At present too few judgments are made available to the public, which has a legitimate interest in being able to read what is being done by judges in its name.’
The Mail’s campaign revealed last April that the Court of Protection – set up by the last Labour government to deal with the affairs of those too ill to make decisions for themselves – had jailed a woman in secret and without publishing any record.
A Birmingham judge imprisoned Wanda Maddocks, 50, for contempt of court for trying to get her father out of a care home where he had been ordered to stay.
Miss Maddocks had no lawyer to represent her, and no judgment was published. She served six weeks.
+5
In December we revealed how an Italian mother who had been forced by the Court of Protection to have a caesarean begged a family court judge in vain to allow her to keep her baby.
Everything that happened to the mother, Alessandra Pacchieri, was decided by the courts in secret.
In the same month we disclosed the case of the ‘irreproachable’ father who spent 12 years and £100,000 in the family courts trying to win the right to see his 14-year-old daughter – and who still has not won his case for access.
Currently, secrecy in the family courts – which can remove children from dangerous parents, order them to be adopted, and decide on their custody – is governed by 1960 law.
This makes it contempt of court to discuss a case when no judgment has been published, a crime punishable by two years in prison. Successive attempts to open up the courts have been thwarted.
+5
In 2006, Labour Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer blocked a law that would have allowed more light in because state-subsidised charities such as the NSPCC and the National Children’s Bureau opposed the idea.
Labour’s 2005 Mental Capacity Act, pushed through by Lord Falconer, set up the Court of Protection. Its rules say ‘the general rule is that a hearing is to be held in private’.
Sir James Munby, who took over a year ago as President of the Family Division, which includes responsibility for both courts, said his new guidance would take effect from February 3.
He added that further guidance and formal legal practice directions will follow. There may yet be full Parliamentary legislation, although Sir James said this is ‘unlikely in the near future.’
He said that current rules are ‘inappropriate where family members wish to discuss their experiences in public, identifying themselves and making use of the judgement.
‘Equally, they may be inappropriate in cases where findings have been made against a person and the court concludes it is in the public interest for that person to be identified.’
- 'Die you muslim die!' Shop worker abuses customer
- Devil Baby terrorizes New York
- Shocking moment CrossFit athlete is paralyzed by dumbbell
- Woman rushed to hospital after THREE-HOUR orgasm
- Porn star fears her illegal O-sized breasts could kill her
- Former nursery worker Sophee Redhead arrives at Leeds Crown...
- Hilarious video of husky 'saying no' to going into his...
- Python swallows impala whole in 45 minutes
- Visible from Space: 'Colossal' Yorkshire tyre fire
- Gosselin's 13-year-old twins go silent on air
- Kayaker has incredible close encounter with humpback whale
- Official trailer for 12 Years A Slave
Is it the End of Britain? www.moneyweek.com/End-Of-BritainCould the Looming Financial Crisis Mean the End of Britain?
Mediation Help thornessolicitors.co.ukResolution - From Expert Mediators. Experience & Expertise.
Make a Hearing Loss Claim hearing-loss.sapphireclaims.comGet Hearing Loss Compensation. Free Hearing Loss Claim Advice...
Debts Payment www.freshfinance.netConsolidate your Debts into one Monthly Payment. Try our Debt Test.
- Was missing Mikaeel spotted just hours after he vanished?...
- Toddler, three, 'was left alone for 20 minutes before she...
- Junior doctor in tears at inquest after she revealed how...
- Royal baby joy as Zara Phillips gives birth to girl weighing...
- Touching moment CNN reporter breaks down after learning her...
- 'He jumped almost like someone shot him': Shocking moment...
- 'Go on, you Muslim, die': Shocking moment smirking Lidl shop...
- Trois c'est le crowd! The awkward moment when Francois...
- Born into brothels: Behind the scenes of Calcutta's...
- Parents 'sick with worry' as runaways elude police: Public...
- 'This is the 4th time I’ve rung for an ambulance for my...
- Three-year-old boy still missing: Police joined by...
The comments below have been moderated in advance.
No to the EU, England, United Kingdom, 4 hours ago
About time too, secret courts are so wrong. There are enough provisions to keep sensitive issues out of the public's knowledge if need be. No courts should be secret in our once open society !!
ken, bedford, 4 hours ago
This is good. Now time to review the adoption laws. Currently adoptions cannot be reversed. where it is clear that an adoption was enforced with flawed evidence, as in the case of a Norfolk family, then the courts should be allowed to reverse the decision and return children to their real parents.
Mississauga Dad, Toronto, Canada, 4 hours ago
A few more changes that would really convince people there is serious concern about the family courts. 1. If we could get the courts to rule that children have a fundamental right to a father, a father's love, & a father's full & ongoing participation in their upbringing & life we would REALLY be making progress. As it stands the courts, the gov't, social agencies, & the entire cadre of socialist feminazi lobbies have reduced divorced & separated fathers to being simply a sperm donor & bank machine. 2. Crime statistics in Canada, the U.S., & the U.K. consistently show that men are victims of domestic abuse in numbers almost equal to women. The courts ignore it & in some cases even laugh in the face of men who report it. Is there any consideration whatsoever being given to having a REAL court system that will defend and protect men from their female abusers? 3. Finally, can we get a court system that does not include an automatic 'Gender Discount' for women who commit crimes?
darripetergan, Southport, United Kingdom, 5 hours ago
Family courts should be completely open otherwise justice cannot be seen to be done vis not honest and just.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2540919/At-Victory-secret-courts-Rulings-family-cases-public-Mail-campaign.html#ixzz2qfYrsaRX
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook