Report comment

Please fill in the form to report an unsuitable comment. Please state which comment is of concern and why. It will be sent to our moderator for review.

Comment

Such a predictable change of tact by McFarlane. The previous president Munby appeared willing prior to his departure in July 2018 to present his version of the reality after long tenure in his role as Head of the Family Division. This article simply represents a steering away from this with Lord MacFarlane presenting an image of a system as functioning and on the way up, but that there clearly is no crisis. Whilst, a popularist term there is clearly a 'crisis' in terms of numbers of children removed from their homes, but most notably in the Family Division of the High Court and with its Court of Protection functions all the way up to the Court of Appeal. Having witnessed underhand tactics that are non-judicious by the judiciary including dishonesty, preventing judicial scrutiny on appeal, siding with professionals where there is a lack of evidence to do so, I remained very concerned. I am particularly concerned regarding the Family Division of the High Court and most notably their Senior Family Liaison Judge Mr Justice Baker - who has recently been elevated to the Court of Appeal. I am concerned that acts I have personally witnessed and can evidence, represent a culture within the judiciary that is acceptable as long as the presentation of that we have a supposedly independent judiciary and that the system below is operating appropriately. All I can see is a future of more of the same, (un)fortunately these observations of the system are not only of me, but are supported from various vantage points by others.

Your details

Cancel