Legal Ombudsman cannot afford to lose focus
The Legal Ombudsman service (LeO) has made some strides in improving its performance, but it must not lose focus in tackling its backlog, the Law Society of England and Wales said today. Law Society President Lubna Shuja said: “Reducing the backlog of cases waiting to be investigated must continue to be the priority for LeO. […]
SRA proposes minor amends to its Standards and Regulations in response to feedback
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is consulting on a series of minor amendments to its Standards and Regulations following feedback from stakeholders since the rules were introduced in 2019. The amendments address areas where, once live, the new rules have either had unintended knock-on consequences or feedback from the profession suggests they need changing to […]
Government commits £257m to support domestic abuse victims
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has this week committed £257 million to help over 70,000 victims of domestic abuse in England. The funding will ensure safe accommodation spaces such as refuges and shelters can provide vital support. The support will include counselling, assistance with rehousing, financial advice, and play therapy for traumatised […]
2021 sees significant drop-off in new civil partnerships
The number of civil partnerships fell significantly in 2021 from those seen in 2020, new data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed. Specifically, there were 6,731 civil partnerships formed in England and Wales in 2021, a decrease of 19.4% from the 8,351 seen in 2020. The ONS noted the data for […]
Charity slams UN’s ”demonising” approach to parental alienation
One of the UK’s leading shared parenting charities has criticised the United Nations’ (UN) approach to parental alienation, suggesting that “denying and demonising parental alienation is not the solution”. The UN’s Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, is to investigate how family courts around the world approach the concept of “parental […]
Migrant domestic abuse survivors “must not fall through the cracks”
The Domestic Abuse Commissioner has urged authorities not to allow migrant domestic abuse survivors to “fall through the cracks”, calling for an “urgent overhaul” of the current framework. Following the publication of a new report on how Britain deals with victims of domestic abuse with an insecure immigration status who cannot access public funds, Commissioner […]
Children and Families Act 2014 “ultimately failed” – report
A new report has condemned the implementation of the Children and Families Act 2014, suggesting it was “a missed opportunity and has ultimately failed in meaningfully improving the lives of children and young people”. The Act was intended to give greater protection to vulnerable children, better support for children whose parents are separating, a new […]
Settlement for dependent parents: Appendix EU v. Appendix FM
Both Appendix EU and Appendix FM provide routes to settlement in the UK for dependent parents. Whilst the focus of this post will be on dependent parents, it should be noted that Appendix EU contains provisions relating to other types of dependent relatives and that Appendix FM relates, not just to dependent parents, but the […]
Forum shopping & divorce tourism
Recently, Clarissa Pierburg, the former wife of one of Europe’s richest men, Jürgen Pierburg, won her High Court battle to divorce in England on the basis that she was domiciled here. Her initial attempts to issue here were met with failure, as she could not provide legally sufficient grounds to so do. To be successful […]
British citizenship for children of unmarried parents
Historically, if a father was not married to a child’s mother, he could not pass on his British nationality automatically to his child. This meant that if a child was considered “illegitimate” and had a British father, they could not acquire their citizenship unless the mother was British or settled. This was the case even […]
