The title of my presentation emphasizes the word crIsIs. And .indeed, child custody problems are human crises. A family unit is breaking up and each member, in his/her individual way, feels the pain. The law attempts to solve this crisis by "making a decision." It puts an official seal on some judgment, and then will "wash its hands" of the case because "it has been decided." And who is left? T...

Editor—Gornall is embarrassingly out of date in his detailed analysis of the B case (which was dealt with by the family courts nearly three years ago), and its relevance to proposed changes in the law to make the English family court system more transparent. Since then, notwithstanding the ever increasingly exaggerated claims from some quarters that opening the family courts would harm children...

The issue of responsibility for delinquent acts has been examined in the light of adolescence as a unique developmental stage, and it has been proposed that the degree to which one should hold an adolescent morally responsible for his/her acts corresponds to the degree to which he/she has individuated from his/her family and become a psychologic adult. A case was presented in which the crime of...

The case of Archie Battersbee, a 12-year-old boy who suffered catastrophic hypoxic brain injury, was the subject several Family Division and Appeal Court hearings between April August 2022. During protracted legal process, appeals were made by family to Supreme Court, European Human Rights, United Nations’ Committee on Rights Persons with Disabilities (CRPD Committee). These unsuccessful in ach...

" When the opportunity came up it was like a godsend. A year ago I was at the bottom. I lost my kids. I had no confidence. I was doing drugs and drinking. I couldn't get any lower. To be quite honest I was like a tramp. " [mother] " This court is different. We don't do conflict. We minimise hostility. This is about solving problems. " [judge, to a parent] " I do think the model is good-and I th...