Divorce reform and the image of the child

This article analyses the images of the child which underpinned debates on the Family Law Act 1996 and which justified particular provisions of that Act in relation to the substantive law and procedure of the divorce process. It argues that, notwithstanding other developing images of the child by the end of the 20th century, the image of the victim was still influential in the passage of legislation

Assessing assessment

Assessment is not only a major practice tool for social workers and medical professionals but also a gatekeeper. It operates to open or close the way for intervention or treatment for a child or his family in the same way that the Crown Prosecutor controls entry to the courts when applying prosecution guidance. Furthermore, the scope and results of the assessment influence or determine the nature and extent of the intervention. Consequently, assessment, comprising of the investigation and the professional conclusions drawn from it, can categorise children – in relation to ss 17, 37 or 47 of the Children Act 1989 – as in need of services or make them the focus of compulsory measures to address significant harm. Compliance with detailed guidance about assessment and the completion of the requisite questionnaires, scales and pro forma also constitute a type of insurance for those who work in a field where certainty of outcome is impossible. It is difficult, then, to over-estimate the importance of assessment

Should impact constitute mitigation?: structured discretion versus mercy

Sentencing guidance on the weight to be given to mitigation about the impact of punishment on an offender has differentiated between serious and less serious offending and between degrees and types of disadvantage. This article reviews current sentencing approaches and analyses the justifications for taking impact into account. In particular it notes that increased emphasis on victim impact and a recent 'inflation' of seriousness decreases the likelihood that punishment impact will influence sentencing decisions. Consequently, it argues that, at a time of rising use of imprisonment, principled justifications could support more attention to impact, and that this is particularly important where offending lies on the ‘cusp’ of a custodial sentence. NOTE: In Bata, [2006] EWHC 468 (QBD), the case referred to on pages 143-4, the minimum period of 10 years set by the trial judge and confirmed by the Secretary of State, had taken Mr Bata’s age and infirmity into account. The author regrets that it was not made clear in the published article that this was the context for the decision of Jack J. in the High Court that it was not appropriate to make further deductions in view of the gravity of the offence

Shared parenting: A 70% solution?

In the context of increased litigation over contact, this article examines the debate around proposals for a presumption of ‘shared parenting’. It concludes that such a presumption would not achieve the aims of its proponents. Its introduction would also be fraught with practical and doctrinal problems

A child’s right to veto in England and Russia – Another welfare ploy?

In the context of the history of the Adoption and Children Act 2002, this article contrasts the approach of English legislation and case-law with the Family Code of the Russian Federation in relation to a child’s right to veto decisions made about his future. Referring to empirical research conducted in Russia, it concludes that there is considerable merit in requiring the child’s consent

Making a case for introspection

Defending first-person introspective access to own mental states, we argue against Carruthers' claim of mindreading being prior to meta-cognition and for a fundamental difference between how we understand our own and others' mental states. We conclude that a model based on one mechanism but involving two different kinds of access for self and other is sufficient and more consistent with the evidence

The English riots and tough sentencing

This article appeared on the OUP Blog Website on 7 September 2011. The final version can be accessed at the link below.The riots which occurred in London and several other major cities early in August have provoked a debate, still on-going, around a range of crucial sentencing issues. Two developments have most interested me. First has been the tension between the government and the judiciary and, second, the apparent mark-up because the offending took place in the context of a riot