header-logo header-logo

Families in conflict

15 December 2023 / Sarah Hughes , Victoria Rylatt
Issue: 8053 / Categories: Features , Family , Child law
printer mail-detail
151431
False denials & families in peril: Sarah Hughes & Victoria Rylatt report on recent caselaw where fact finding hearings have uncovered significant issues
  • Covers issues arising after fact finding hearings in recent caselaw on private family cases involving children.

Following a fact finding hearing, the court has the benefit of a factual matrix upon which to base its decision. The outcome of a fact finding hearing can have significant repercussions for the rest of the proceedings, in respect of procedural and substantive matters. Within this article we address some key issues which have arisen in recent case law, further to the outcome of fact finding hearings.

A Mother v A Father

A Mother v A Father [2023] EWFC 105 (14 April 2023) involved a six-year-old girl and was described as ‘full of vitriol, allegation, and counter allegation’, in which the child had made allegations of sexual abuse against her father.

The matter for determination at the fact finding was whether what the child was saying was true. The

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Carey Olsen—Kim Paiva

Group partner joins Guernsey banking and finance practice

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

Morgan Lewis—Kat Gibson

London labour and employment team announces partner hire

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Foot Anstey McKees—Chris Milligan & Michael Kelly

Double partner appointment marks Belfast expansion

NEWS
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has not done enough to protect the future sustainability of the legal aid market, MPs have warned
Writing in NLJ this week, NLJ columnist Dominic Regan surveys a landscape marked by leapfrog appeals, costs skirmishes and notable retirements. With an appeal in Mazur due to be heard next month, Regan notes that uncertainties remain over who will intervene, and hopes for the involvement of the Lady Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls in deciding the all-important outcome
After the Southport murders and the misinformation that followed, contempt of court law has come under intense scrutiny. In this week's NLJ, Lawrence McNamara and Lauren Schaefer of the Law Commission unpack proposals aimed at restoring clarity without sacrificing fair trial rights
The latest Home Office figures confirm that stop and search remains both controversial and diminished. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Parpworth of De Montfort University analyses data showing historically low use of s 1 PACE powers, with drugs searches dominating what remains
Boris Johnson’s 2019 attempt to shut down Parliament remains a constitutional cautionary tale. The move, framed as a routine exercise of the royal prerogative, was in truth an extraordinary effort to sideline Parliament at the height of the Brexit crisis. Writing in NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC dissects how prorogation was wrongly assumed to be beyond judicial scrutiny, only for the Supreme Court to intervene unanimously
back-to-top-scroll