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Family Law student resources is no longer available and it was replaced by Family Law 2e.
Chapter 9 Resource bank
Chapter 9 Resource bank
Private child law
Legislation
The key piece of domestic English and Welsh legislation addressing this topic is the Children Act 1989, as amended by the Children and Families Act 2014. As with all legislation, we recommend that you avoid legislation.gov.uk, and instead refer to a subscription database such a Lexis or Westlaw. This will ensure that you are working with an up-to-date version that includes those 2014 amendments, such as the presumption of involvement and the introduction of child arrangement orders in place of residence and contact orders.
Television and radio documentaries
You may have access to a resource called Box of Broadcasts via your college or university. This is provided by the British Universities and Colleges Film and Video Council and gives on demand access to many television and radio programmes going back years, for educational purposes. Some programmes also include transcripts. There are many documentaries available. These include:
Dispatches: Sharing Mum and Dad (Channel 4, 2013)
Presenter Tim Lovejoy, a divorced father of two, investigates the current situation in Britain surrounding shared parenting following divorce or separation. He speaks to a wide range of voices and explores the psychological effects of parental separation on children, hearing from teenagers about their personal experiences.
https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ondemand
Cafcass
The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service provides courts with help in determining what is in the best interests of a child and ascertaining the child’s wishes and feelings in the light of their age and understanding. There is specific information about their role in private law proceedings about children.
https://www.cafcass.gov.uk/grown-ups/parents-and-carers/divorce-and-separation/
Maeb Harding and Annika Newnham, How Do County Courts Share the Care of Children between Parents? (University of Reading and University of Warwick 2015)
This report, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, looks at why parents and others apply to court about children matters, the different types of childcare arrangements that result, and how courts deal with difficult situations such as those involving domestic abuse or child safety concerns. Given the many myths and inaccuracies about court outcomes in children cases, this is a very useful source.
https://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/sites/default/files/files/Full%20report.pdf
Joan Hunt and Alison Macleod, Outcomes of Applications to Court for Contact Orders after Parental Separation or Divorce (Ministry of Justice 2008)
Profiles the types of cases that result in different outcomes (e.g. visiting contact, staying contact, indirect contact).
http://dera.ioe.ac.uk/9145/1/outcomes-applications-contact-orders.pdf
Carol Smart, Vanessa May, Amanda Wade, and Clare Furniss, Residence and Contact Disputes in Court: Volume 1 (University of Leeds 2003)
This study of three county courts examines the cases that were brought to court (e.g. whether they were residence or contact) and how these were dealt with. The authors noted that they ‘found a very complex picture in which the concerns of parents did not always match with the priorities of the courts’.
Jane Fortin, Joan Hunt, and Lesley Scanlan, Taking a Longer View of Contact: The Perspectives of Young Adults who Experienced Parental Separation in their Youth (Sussex Law School 2012)
Nuffield Foundation funded study documenting young people’s reflections on the contact they had/did not have with their non-resident parent, including what worked for them and any problems; what impact they felt the contact they experienced had had on their adult lives, particularly their current relationships with their parents, and whether their views about contact and their non-resident parent had changed as they grew older.
http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/44691/
Oxford Centre for Law and Policy ‘Caring for Children after Parental Separation: Would Legislation for Shared Parenting Time Help Children?’ Briefing Paper 7 (2011).
An excellent summary of the research evidence surrounding splitting a child’s time generously between two households.
Children and Families Act 2014
Department for Education, Children and Families Bill 2013: Contextual Information and Responses to Pre-Legislative Scrutiny (Cm 8540, 2013)
Justice Committee, Fourth Report, Pre-Legislative scrutiny of the Children and Families Bill (TSO, 2012)
https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmjust/739/73902.htm
Practice Direction 12B Child Arrangements Programme (2014)
This practice direction outlines how courts should deal with applications for a child arrangements order. It covers mediation information and assessment meetings (MIAMS) and the importance of non-court resolution, allocation, safeguarding, hearings, timetable, and enforcement, among other things.
https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/family/practice_directions/pd_part_12b
Practice Direction 12J Child Arrangements & Contact Order: Domestic Violence and Harm (2017)
This revised Practice Direction was the result of revisions by Cobb J. It was designed to bolster the protection of adults and children in situations where there was domestic violence and harm.
https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/family/practice_directions/pd_part_12j
Marie Crawford, ‘Child Arrangements & Contact Order: Domestic Violence and Harm’, Family Law Week (2017)
This is a useful summary of PD12J and how it differs from the preceding version.
Robin Tolson QC, ‘The Welfare Test and Human Rights: Where’s the Beef in the Sacred Cow?’ Family Law Week (2005)
Useful article about reconciling the welfare principle with the Human Rights Act 1998.
http://www.familylawweek.co.uk/site.aspx?i=ed307
Yousef v Netherlands App. No. 33711/96
Important case on the requirements of Art 8 when in conflict with the welfare principle.
http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-60723
Mabon v Mabon and Others [2005] EWCA Civ 634
Dispute between the parents in which the children sought to instruct their own solicitor. Contains a useful discussion of the rules surrounding separate representation of children.