Posted on Edit "Open Justice and Journalist Access to the Courts"

Open Justice and Journalist Access to the Courts

I have written another judgment summary over at Family Law Week, this time for the case of Jessica Bradley v CM & Ors [2026] EWHC 125 (Fam).

This was an application by a journalist for access to the reports of a clinic psychologist in four separate child arrangements proceedings. The application went beyond what journalists are routinely allowed access to under the ‘template transparency order‘.

This case is in many ways a companion judgment to Re AB (Disclosure of Position Statements) [2025] EWCOP 25 (T3) in the Court of Protection. This was another judgment of Poole J, in which disclosure of documents from previous hearings (that an observer had not attended) was ordered on the open justice principle. That judgment is under appeal.

I am aware that access to documents in order to understand hearings is not limited to the Family Court and Court of Protection. Last month I noted that criminal court reporters were grumbling about lack of access.

Continue reading “Open Justice and Journalist Access to the Courts”
Posted on Edit "Appealing a Court of Protection Judgment"

Appealing a Court of Protection Judgment

Over at the Open Justice Court of Protection Project, I have written a long explainer about appeals in the Court of Protection.

Any contested hearing in the Court of Protection will leave at least one party disappointed by the outcome.

Often, the disappointed party (whether that is a family member, a public body, or the protected person themselves) will accept the judge’s decision and work within the terms of the order that has been made.

On other occasions, the disappointed party may consider that the judge has made a mistake which may be corrected on appeal.

This post offers a basic introduction to Court of Protection appeals. It covers (1) the general principles that govern appeals and why appeals fail at an early stage (2) the procedure for making an appeal and some common reasons and (3) some alternatives to an appeal.

Visit the Open Justice Court of Protection Project blog to read the whole thing.

Posted on Edit "The Vilification of Welfare Recipients"

The Vilification of Welfare Recipients

There is a sanctimonious strain in British society that likes to divide the citizenry into ‘working people’ on the one hand, and feckless spongers on the other. This is a form of the ‘us and them’ mentality that the populists love and the tabloids love to repeat. It is as simplistic as racism and just as pernicious.

Listening to the vox pops on last week’s budget, you’d think that all the money has been taken straight from taxpayers and put into the pockets of lazy people.

What’s lazy is this analysis. It is simply not true. Large portions of the new tax take will be given to pensioners, most of whom will have paid into the system throughout their working life.

Child benefits are paid to everyone, including families where the parents work.

Recipients of disability benefits may also employed.

I’ve just spent two years working for a local authority. Every day I encountered people subsisting on benefits.

It is a miserable, miserable life. It is no-one’s first choice. The Universal Credit system and the cost of living (especially cost of accommodation) conspire to keep people in the system. Receiving benefits erodes dignity. The pittance we grant serves to keep them hovering around the poverty line. That increases both physical and mental illness, and encourages people towards crime and substance abuse.

Whether you fall into this system or not has nothing to do with the content of your character, but the luck of your birth and your postcode.

I don’t know whether Rachel Reeves’ particular economic recipie will boost growth and living standards. But I wish that the responses to her policies were not riddled with classism.

This was first posted on LinkedIn.

Posted on Edit "A New Job, and (Hopefully) a Return to the Blog"

A New Job, and (Hopefully) a Return to the Blog

Last month I began a pupillage at Field Court Chambers. It is a civil set with a strong Public Law team, and I am enjoying spending time in the Court of Protection and the Administrative Court. The power of the state over the individual, and the rights that the individual might have against the exercise of state power, was a theme of my undergraduate studies and my career since (at least) 2007. 

So I find myself in a state of eudaimonia (εὐδαιμονία), the good spirit of feeling I am doing exactly what I should doing. I cannot wait to begin taking instructions and building a practice.

My new job has got me thinking about this old blog. My conversion to the law and subsequent legal work in the County Courts and for the Royal Borough of Greenwich has kept me away. 

The activism of writing was entirely in keeping with my work at English PEN. But in recent years, I felt I had to refrain. There were many reasons for this. 

Continue reading “A New Job, and (Hopefully) a Return to the Blog”
Posted on Edit "Failure to implement a care order"

Failure to implement a care order

I’ve done another judgment summary for Family Law Week. I’m finding its a useful way to gain an understanding of an area of law.

This time I’ve dealt with the snappily titled Re E (A Child – Application to Discharge Care Order – Failures of Local Authority) [2025] EWFC 223 (B).

This was a judgment of HHJ Earley regarding an application by a child to discharge a Care Order that the Court had made ten months earlier. The Court dismissed the application and maintained the order, but in doing so made pointed comments regarding the local authority’s failures to implement the agreed care plan. The judge reviewed the legal authorities regarding the Court’s oversight of care placements, once a final order has been made. It is salutary reading for those working in social care and those representing Looked After Children.