A woman was denied her pension at 60 and was told to wait until male pension age of 65, because she had not annulled her marriage. In a recent case of MB v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, the European court of Justice found that the UK government discriminated against a transgender woman. The claimant was born in 1948 and... Read More
The Family Division of the High Court in the case of MK v RP recently heard an application made by the father under the Hague Child Abduction Convention and found that the mother had wrongfully removed the parties’ daughter from Israel. The background issues The father sought immediate return of the 6-year-old daughter after the... Read More
A couple's Supreme Court bid to prove that barring heterosexual couples from civil partnerships is unlawful discrimination has succeeded. Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan won their battle in front of five justices in Britain's highest court today. The judgment, which ruled on the incompatibility with human rights law, will... Read More
In February a bill to create equal civil partnerships reached its second reading in the House of Commons. If successful it would open the option of civil partnerships out to heterosexual couples. The bill has given voice to a growing chorus that began when Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan launched their case for heterosexual civil... Read More
The Scottish government has developed Vulnerable Witnesses (Scotland) Bill, creating a rule that witnesses under the age of 18 will have their evidence pre-recorded in advance of the most serious criminal trials. This approach is likely to extend the practice to vulnerable adult witnesses in cases of sexual offences, human trafficking, stalking... Read More
An increase in the number of cases in both private law and public law children matters has "overburdened" the family courts, and left the legal system of child protection “in crisis”, Sir Andrew McFarlane has said. Private Law children matters When a family breakdown occurs, the children tend to reside the primary... Read More
Recent figures from the Office for National Statistics have indicated that the fastest growing family demographic in the UK is cohabiting couples: namely, couples who live together without formalising their relationship either through marriage or civil partnership. The ONS’ figures show that between 1996 and 2017 this demographic more than... Read More
A year has passed since the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) announced its investigation in May 2017 into the efficacy of ‘add-on’ treatments at UK fertility clinics. This followed widespread media coverage questioning the benefits and marketing to patients of costly ‘add-on’ treatments. What are... Read More
Women’s Aid and Queen Mary University of London released a report last week on domestic abuse, human rights and child contact matters in the family courts. The report raises issues of gendered stereotypes, harmful attitudes towards victims of domestic violence and mothers within the family courts, putting their and their children safety at... Read More
Two recent high profile prosecutions have shone the spotlight on the underreported issue of young British women being forced into marriages overseas. Forced marriage has been unlawful since June 2014. However, only recently the courts in England have heard the matters where prosecutions of forced marriage have been successful including two... Read More