Initial research findings:the typical levels of parental involvement where post-separation parenting is resolved by court order

This case file study explored the typical patterns of parental involvement in post-separation parenting arrangements finalised by court order. It is estimated that 9%–13% of parents resort to court to arrange their post breakdown parenting patterns (A Blackwell and F Dawe, Non-Resident Parental Contact (ONS, 2003), at p 39). We selected five county courts (which we code-named Ambledune, Borgate, Cladford, Dunam and Esseborne), and looked at 197 case files which began as applications for a s 8 order and were recorded as ending in a final order between February and August 2011. The purpose of this selection was not to achieve generalisable results but rather to ensure that we encountered as many of the different types of issues that affect the use of contact and residence orders as possible. As current policy is to divert as many cases as possible away from court it is important to understand how cases that reached court were handled during this period

Review of Maintenance and child support in private international law by Walker, L.

Cross border recovery of maintenance and child support is a technical area, subject to a complicated regulatory framework which has been the subject to a number of recent reforms. The Maintenance Regulation (Council Regulation (EC) 4/2009) applies to EU member states but refers the question of applicable law to the Hague Protocol of 23 November 2007 on the Law applicable to Maintenance Obligations which does not in apply in Denmark or the United Kingdom. This gives rise to two different procedures for recovery and enforcement within the EU. Further afield, the Hague Convention of 23 of November 2007 on the International Recovery of Child Support and other forms of Family Maintenance is applied in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Norway and Ukraine and has been ratified by the EU as a regional organisation. The Convention also has two different mechanisms for recognition and enforcement – a mainstream approach and an alternative procedure. To add to the layers of procedural complexity the Hague Convention has a narrower substantive scope than the Maintenance Regulation

Commentary on North Western Health Board v HW and CW (the PKU case)

Should the state administer a medical screening test on a child against the wishes of the family? The parents in this case refused to allow a test which would have involved taking a pinprick of blood from the child in order to test for certain metabolic disorders – phenylketonuria, homocystinuria, and hypothyroidism. The parents objected on religious grounds, that ‘nobody is allowed to injure anyone else’. Based on this conviction, they objected to pricking the skin of their child. The Irish Supreme Court upheld the wishes of the family and refused to order the administration of the test. This feminist revisiting of the case argues that the Irish Supreme Court prioritised the paradigm marital family as a unit over the rights of individual children in setting the test for intervention into the family unit on behalf of the child

Sharing as caring? Contact and residence disputes between between parents

This article examines how five county courts promoted parental involvement in contact and residence disputes, both in terms of the formal orders made and the time patterns that were in place when the cases left court. This research is based on a sample of 174 parent versus parent cases in which a final order was made between February and August 2011. All five courts encouraged as much contact as possible in the circumstances of the case. The courts took a pragmatic approach to increasing contact time for non-resident parents which meant that the quality of care (good or bad), was rarely expressly discussed in the cases. A consistently cautious approach to transfers of sole residence was seen which contrasted with a lack of consensus on when shared residence orders should be made and for what purpose

Section 8 orders on the public-private law divide

While section 9(2) of the Children Act 1989 prevents a Local Authority from applying for a child arrangements order directly, a case file study of residence and contact orders made in 2011 found that a significant number of applications for residence orders in the County Court were supported and sometimes even instigated by local authority children’s services (Harding & Newnham, 2015). The findings of the study demonstrate that residence orders often formed part of solutions offered to the family and can even operate as an alternative to formal public law remedies in situations where the parents are no longer able to provide care, and grandparents or other relatives take over. In these ‘hybrid cases’ private law orders are used to resolve situations on the fringes of public law action and, in some cases, divert cases from voluntary accommodation or formal care proceedings. This article raises questions about whether cases are being diverted to private law remedies in an appropriate manner and argues that closer scrutiny of the practice is required to ensure that the rights of parents, children and kinship carers are appropriately respected

How do county courts share the care of children between parents? : executive summary

The research is based on document analysis of a retrospective sample of 197 case files from the County Courts. The purpose of the project was to examine the different types of child care arrangements reached within court proceedings and confirmed by court order in five selected County Courts in England and Wales within a six month period in 2011. The research examines the types of applications that came to court, the role of the court in adjudicating such disputes and the different types of timeshare arrangements reached by parents during the court process. This executive summary provides a brief overview of the main findings

How do county courts share the care of children between parents? : Full report

The research is based on document analysis of a retrospective sample of 197 case files from the County Courts. The purpose of the project was to examine the different types of child care arrangements reached within court proceedings and confirmed by court order in five selected County Courts in England and Wales within a six month period in 2011. The research examines the types of applications that came to court, the role of the court in adjudicating such disputes and the different types of timeshare arrangements reached by parents during the court process