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From The Times
July 17, 2008

A moving response to our family justice campaign

The Times call for an end to secrecy has produced a huge reaction - except from the man who could change it

Camilla Cavendish

Learn more about family justice | Write to your MP | Share your experiences

I am awed by the response to the family justice campaign that The Times launched last week. So many readers have e-mailed their MPs that I am getting calls from all three main parties. Several MPs have also raised their private concerns about how their own local authorities behave. It is uplifting to see democracy in action.

There are chinks of light already. Thoughtful people on all sides of the argument seem to accept that some degree of change is needed. Sir Mark Potter, President of the Family Division, gave broad but qualified support to many of our proposed reforms, although he argues strongly that the courts are private, not secret, and that families want them that way. Bridget Prentice, the Justice Minister, has announced that the Government will finally publish new proposals this autumn. Many social workers restrained the urge to hurl rotten eggs and supported our call for openness, while saying that the system is not as Kafkaesque as I fear.

Bill McKittrick, a social worker for 35 years and director of Bristol Social Services for ten, wrote to say that openness is a moral imperative in care proceedings where, he tells me, “lawyers get rich, social workers check and check, but children and parents get lost”. He says that “groupthink” can easily take hold. “The more people involved in a decision, the more dangerous the decisions are.” But he still thinks that mature professionals would get a better press if they gave their side of the story, being honest about the uncertainties involved in decisions, rather than trotting out the mantra of “never apologise, never explain”.

A Conspiracy of Silence

Allowing the family courts and social services to operate in secret allows miscarriages of justice without the possibility of redress

Background

Two main arguments have been made against The Times's position. First, that the family courts should not be open to the press because the parents and children involved in cases dread being identified. Sir Mark, the heads of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), the Royal College of Paediatricians and Child Health and Family Justice Council have all made this point. It is understandable that families don't want the neighbours to know highly personal details.

The same argument was used by Lord Falconer of Thoroton last year to reject the recommendation of the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee, that the family courts should be open and parents no longer gagged. It is prompted by a visceral dislike of the press, which I can partly understand. Yet it is overdone. I see from the inside how concerned the press is to remain within the law. In rape cases and family appeals, reporting restrictions have successfully kept names secret while allowing evidence to be reported.

The halfway house proposed by many, including the Government, is to publish all judgments, but made anonymous. That would be a good step. But without access to the underlying evidence, it will be impossible to discover whether experts or social workers are making repeated errors. The public do not need to name names for justice to be done. But they do need to see the evidence on which people are effectively convicted.

The second criticism is that professionals do their job properly, and we critics do not understand the complexity they have to deal with. The Family Justice Council states that “the courts do not shrink from exposing poor practice by social workers and questionable medical evidence”. I cannot agree. In the past few years, Court of Appeal judges have made blistering criticisms of lower courts for relying on shockingly poor statements from social workers and experts. Family court judges can rely heavily on such people, in cases where there is no circumstantial evidence.

It seems Orwellian to ask us to trust people who are not subject to scrutiny to make correct decisions about cases which we are repeatedly told are too complex for us to understand. Years can pass between children being taken into care and a successful appeal. Those are formative years in which children are deprived of their parents, and sometimes adopted before an appeal is even heard.

Intriguingly, only one person challenged our view that the system is unaccountable. That was Sir Rodney Brooke, chair of the General Social Care Council. I have seen no evidence that the GSCC has disciplined a single social worker denounced by appeal court judges in the past few years. But I hope to be corrected. Nor did any one of the eminent bodies who wrote to us deny that miscarriages of justice occur. Some of the glib references have made miscarriages of justice sound like a standard occupational hazard. There are 550,000 referrals to social services every year. It makes the Birmingham Six fade by comparison.

Yesterday, Frank Lockyer wrote to point out that the authorities have closed ranks in response to our campaign. “The agencies defend themselves by persisting that things are done as they expect, rather than as they are,” he said. Mr Lockyer should know. His daughter was Sally Clark, jailed for killing two of her sons until her conviction was quashed, and who has since died. Mr Lockyer knows that his daughter was exonerated only because she could protest her innocence in public. In the family courts, gagging orders make that impossible. We cannot know how many Sally Clarks have lost their children. The volume of mail on this topic has been hugely welcome. Only one person has remained silent. Jack Straw, the Secretary of State for Justice, holds the power to change the system for the better. It would be good to know what he is going to do about it.

i complained to cafcass that their officer had omitted ,from a report ,an admitted act of violence against my son by his mother.they responded by stating my complaint was 'malicious' and not dealt with.1 year later a judge found that he had suffered abuse.the mothers time with him was increased.

Paddy S,, essex, england

Does Cavendish and a lot of those commenting not notice that the same courts whose proceedings they want to be made public have to deal with the baby Ps of this world? It is not the parents privacy that is protected it is the childrens. It is very rare for unfit abusive parents to own to it.

Mike, Leeds, UK

A malady, perhaps unconsidered, that may fuel the defensiveness of supposed professionals, is that now with such vast access to information, the average layperson can scrutinize opinion. Writing it off as 'too confusing' for any other than an expert is becoming a desperate defense to retain power.

David Wollf, Calgary, Canada

In response to Dave Farmer, I too am one of the good Dads, and I too was accused in court of claiming a conspiracy when I questioned the report by CAFCASS, in the mean-time and fully aware that my son was at risk whilst in his mums care, recommended that he remain with her. Children are not heard...

Noel Shaw, Bolton, England

Well as one of the good Dads I can say this system has screwed me and if there there was scrutiny of proceedings this would not have happened. When I complained that the social servises had got it wrong I was accused in court that I was suggesting a conspiricy, infact I was seeking justice!

Dave Farmer, Broxbourne, England

There is no continuaty in family courts a perfectly reasonable order made in 2004 was overturned within a year on the mothers say so, I even accused the judge of empowering her to abuse the system further which she has, when I appealed the judge said their is nothing he could do she asked for costs!

Dave Farmer, Broxbourne, England

Enforced adoption - this is happening to my 3 years old son and me NOW. I have lived in France with my son, his mother ("unfit") lives in England with her partner having fled France and the Gendarmes after viciously assaulting our boy. I'm now facing a Penal Notice to return with my son to the UK.

P Baxter, Champagnac, France

Being involved with Social Services and losing to them you have nothing left. My family has been torn apart. I was told there was nothing wrong with my parenting skills, it was just the fact that they thought i wouldnt be able to keep my child safe with no real evidence to support their assumptions!

Uzma Ahmed, Nelson, England

I wrote about this in 1996. I tried to involve the local press immediately - to no avail. I have written hundreds of thousands of words between 1996-2000. I can only hope the issue is addressed publicly.

Mary Ann Costello, Sandusky, USA

As with the case of Clark Rockefeller who apparently has ‘abducted’ his own daughter
Is it really possible to abduct your own child especially if you pose no threat, as his ex Sandra Boss implies on her impassioned appeal? (good act anyway) perhaps an act of ‘imposed contact’ should be used and a mutual dialogue be used to resolve the matter rather then trying to criminalize yet another Dad!

Dave Farmer, Broxbourne, England

Meanwhile the Law firms and Barristers are rubbing their hands together everytime another case appears and lets face it is only these so called professionals that benefit from all this, so is in their best interest to perpetuate it more in order to bankrupt dad and glean all the legal aid from mum!

Dave Farmer, Broxbourne, England

Why are 3 Local Authorities Kent being one using concurrency fostercarers/adopters for 0-2 years old children. They can adopt these children within 10 months without extended families even being told let alone assessed as carers.

Also keeping their full fostering allowance and support package

Hope, uk,

Why are special guardianship orders SGO being obtained by fostercarers/adopters/

Is this being used by local authorities to hide the true adoption figures, without having to support relatives via kinshipcare or fostering allowances

fostercarers are laughing all the way to the bank

Hope, uk,

Freedom of speech is one of the hallmarks of our society.

Reporting of family court cases can be carried out.

All that would be required is that the names of children and the details of their school be suppressed.

John Flanagan, Wollongong, Australia

Who can put this curupt practise right? The Law Lords seem to have lost the plot those who should do something don't.Have they vested interest or is there more votes in having millions of single parents. Jack Straw took emergancy action when the law was wrong before why not again, Why the stailmate

Dave Farmer, Broxbourne, England

Sadly the child protection training given to professionals working with children under the auspices of ACPC's is of such a scandalously poor quality that it's a wonder there are not greater injustices. There is no assessment of any kind of candiates and certifcates are handed out just for attending!

angus, bristol, uk

Sadly the "accountability" of professionals doesn't always amount to much. In a matter involving my own family, the BMA backed a doctor whose evidence was clearly demonstrated to be completely untrue. In "child protection" the truth and facts are, apparently, deemed by the BMA to be expendable.

John MacLeod, Portmahomack, Scotland

The excellent series on family law here still only touches the tip of the iceberg, It will take a generation of responsable parents to put right what so many so called professionals got wrong. How can we expect the young to learn respect from judges that don't uphold the law even if it is civil?

Dave Farmer, Broxbourne, England

Who ever is in charge should take a close look at what is going on in these courts as these messages reveal it is not an isolated case it is widespread who has the political will to do it Jack Straw? He put a Law Lord folly right before! How many more suicides,damaged children &broken neigbourhoods

Dave Farmer, Broxbourne, England

Thank You Camilla.

Opening the flood gates to the truth is the first step to changing this old patriarchal system.

Together, we are the change for the future, where all children are respected and loved.

Catherine Mills BA, HdipEd, , London, UK

Angus of Bristol touches on an important point.
Professional Opinion ( the Accountant, Lawyer etc) is treated as fact and can be challenged accordingly. Where that Opinion is erroneous the Professional is Personally Accountable to make good any damage caused. Why is Social Work not similar?

David Morrison, Airdrie, UK

This doesn't approach the monstrous injustice of maintaining a wrongful adoption. Adoption should not have the unjust and arbitrary absoluteness of capital punishment: the children MUST be returned to the proper parents and the adoption annulled, expert opinion on 'bonding' notwithstanding.

Greg Lorriman, Leatherhead, UK

How come Camilla dares to go where the BBC fears to tread? So much for the Today programme, they never metion Family Law yet what is at the heart of youth crime and anxiety? Womans Hour get some wimp on why notsomeone who has gone through the horror? You & Yours Jeremy Vine could do it justice too!

Dave Farmer, Broxbourne, England

An enormous heartfelt thankyou to you Camilla for bringing attention to this very dangerous practice by bullying social workers who believe that they are above the law! They try to rip your lives apart without any evidence saying all they need to use is their personal opinion based on statistics!!!

lesley, bedfordshire,

It is not obvious to those who do not experience these courts, they are not proper courts of Law, they do not follow the proper pattern for an accountable system of Justice. The professionals are just part of a system that is playing games with peoples lives, the proper frameworks have been lost!

Paul Randle-Jolliffe, Cowes, UK

Charles Walker M.P. is an excellent constituant player and has campaigned for improved NHS sevices in this area, he has also taken the family law subject seriously too. David Cameron has recognised that family breakdown has an impact on society, are the Family courts robust enough to fix it though?

Dave Farmer, Broxbourne, England

@ Lay Magistrate - let's all make sure that the courts are acting as you say by having them fully open , as it's our taxes that are paying for them

Ian , London,

I am of the belief if these do gooders lost their jobs with local authorities they would render themselves unemployable, everywhere else people are measured by reults, here you seem to be measured by failure! Judges who do the most harm to fathers cases usually get promoted, why is that?

Dave Farmer, Broxbourne, England

If you want to test whether in fact there is any accountability as to the competence of C.P. social workers; then ask for the stats as to how many who have failed to acheieve their PQSW have been removed from their post. I think you will find the figure is zero, which is a scandal.

angus, bristol, uk

I do not think so much the press have to be involved in cases although they will report the most tragic consiquence of some, it is a case that the judges that all too often make major errors in judgement should be called to account much as you may ask an alternative doctor for a second opnion,simple

Dave Farmer, Broxbourne, England

I won my family court case after seven years, but only because I sacked the family court lawyer who was supposed to be representing me when I caught him batting for the other side as well. He is still claiming Legal Aid for me 8 months later. I call that fraud.

Barbara, Staffordshire, England

Family Courts are confidential not secretive. They exist to resolve problems involving children whose interests are the absolute priority. Reasons are read out in Court and are available in writing to all parties. Publicising parents' inability to put children's needs before their own helps noone.

Lay Magistrate, London, UK

It is not for nothing that professionals I know in teaching and medicine (I am a retired teacher) often refer to the Social Services by the initials SS.

One headmistress admitted that she hesitated before referring cases saying "They do more harm than good."

The SS must be reformed - now.

Michael Bruce, Selby, Yorkshire

My case involved international family law and there was much injustice. The High Court made an order which prevented me from speaking to the press about the matter. I am not sure if this was done to protect my children or prevent potential embarrassment to legal bodies. I tend to think the latter.

Kim Domnick, Torquay, UK

The Judge said his role was the child's welfare not the conduct of the social worker.
LA said they could not investigate conduct relating to court.
LGO said the same.
GSCC said any issues should be addressed through the court.

Judge said his role was the child's welfare not social work conduct

IW, Sefton,

I am a social worker who came from Minnesota in the US. There the juvenile court system is open with certain restrictions. The effect of openness was first an interest in the most outlandish cases like the infant thrown in the garbage pail, but later a real appreciation of what social workers do.

James, Swindon,

Excellent reply to the agencies who are complacent and continue in their arrogance, just like the MPs who faught to prevent their expense claims publication. This is so important as it is our children's future at stake, so many lack identity as they needlessly lose one parent. Keep up the pressure!

Steve, Newport, UK

Excellent reply to the agencies that are complacent and continue in their arrogance, much like the MP's who faught to avoid their large expenses being published. They all have a reason for cover up. This issue is so important as it is the future of our children and our society. Keep up the pressure

Steve, Newport, UK

Any progress is welcome. I believe anyone who has been exposed to this pernicious and unaccountable system wants justice to be seen to be done, not 'privacy' at the expense of truth. Family courts take the remarkable view that expert opinion is more important than fact. It has to stop.

richard, Horley, UK

It's one thing to say that the press and external people are not allowed to address at the situation fully, but it's quite another to say that it's ok for the people INSIDE the situation are not allowed to address the situation fully. of course protect from prying eyes,unless those eyes are mine

Christopher Thomas, Connahs's Quay, Flintshire

Judges tend to forget that the high court is open to the public for such cases. In talks with Lord Scarman in 1995 (at the time of the Family Law Bill) he believed courts were open at the County Court level and was surprised to be told they weren't. Scotland has open courts and that seems to work.

Robert Whiston FRSA, Walsall, UK

Hi, how is it evidence is to complex for the press, when Magestrates, who are lay persons, who don't need any particular expertese, to preside on such apparent camplexities, make life changing decisions, at the whim of a Kafcass reporter, what skills does Kafcass require to be the judge and jury?

Paul D , Gateshead, England

Simple solution : let the parents whose privacy is being "protected" choose whether to lift reporting restrictions.

Mark Joshi, Melbourne,

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