Civil way: 2 February 2018

Full bodied but a bit oaky HMC&TS has recently updated its policy on searching liquids brought into courts and tribunals. Anyone turning up with a plastic drinks container or an opened can or carton will be asked to take a sip and taste the liquid with a view to proving (beyond all reasonable doubt or on the balance of probabilities depending on the nature of the business conducted at the venue and with a right headache where both criminal and civil work is listed there) that the contents are not prohibited.

Adoption matching Successfully matching children up for adoption with prospective adopters and doing so more speedily should result from the Adoption and Children Act Register (Search and Inspection) Regulations 2017 (SI 2017/978) which came into force on 2 November 2017. The register of relevant children will be accessible to approved adopters as to certain prescribed information—nothing sufficient to identify—for ‘adopter-led matching’ which will often lead to consideration of children