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02 August 2024 / Max Konarek
Issue: 8082 / Categories: Opinion , Child law , Health , Personal injury , Criminal
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Keeping care proceedings fair

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The Suspected Inflicted Head Injury Service could be in breach of Art 6 & 8 rights, argues Max Konarek
  • Family lawyers have raised serious concerns about the Suspected Inflicted Head Injury Service (SIHIS), which is already being piloted.
  • This article argues the service may be in breach of parties’ Art 6 and 8 rights in care proceedings, and that it needs more consultation and transparency.

Picture the scenario: pre fact-finding hearing in care proceedings, your client is alleged to have caused serious harm to a child. That harm includes what is said to be a non-accidental head injury—all medical experts instructed in your case are against your client in the reports they have written. No wiggle room arises from the experts’ meeting that has taken place. If anything, the experts’ views have solidified further against your client. Many would say: ‘Game over. The outcome is inevitable.’ I would say everything is to play for. But why?

The cross examination of medical experts in these cases by specialist and

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NEWS
Talk of a reserved ‘Welsh seat’ on the Supreme Court is misplaced. In NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC explains that the Constitutional Reform Act treats ‘England and Wales’ as one jurisdiction, with no statutory Welsh slot
The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
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