John Hemming's Web Log

This judgment looks at the use of a voluntary agreement to put a child into care. At the time of "agreeing" to this the mother had been medicated with Morphine. She was also told it was temporary when it has given rise to a forced adoption. In the end, however, it has still given rise to a forced adoption. Parents are often bullied into accepting S20 agreements with the threat of court proceedings. This judgment doesn't really help.

This is where the president of the family division puts his view on the secret court system. As usual he is focussed on the question of media access. This ignores the fact that there are a number of constraints on accountability that include the constraints on the media being involved. There is the question of professional standards. As it currently stands the Health Professions Council remain of the view that they should not investigate psychologists who are reported by parties to family court cases without the permission of the judge. That is an unacceptable constraint. Secondly, there is no academic access to the material as of right. That means that each case operates in its own isolated sphere of reality. Specialists cannot audit the evidence given. Thirdly, when cases some to the court of appeal there is no publication of the original judgment. Fourthly, the cases are oppressive for individuals who cannot bring in others beyond a mackenzie friend (and often an MF is re

My Family Justice Private Members bill has now been published for public consultation on my website here The version that goes to the second reading is likely to be different. It has also been sent formally to the government for consultation. Details of who to respond to and the deadline (which is 20th September) are in the bill. It has interleaved explanatory notes.

The following are videos from the performance of John Hemming and the Sisters of Jazz at the Hotel du Vin on 8th July 2012 as part of the Birmingham Jazz Festival Sweet Georgia Brown Take the ‘A’ train Moon River Stepping Out Cheek to Cheek Beyond the Sea Fever Foggy Day Summertime Strike up the Band My funny valentine ‘s Wonderful Royal Flush How High the Moon Somewhere over the Rainbow All of Me Perdido Satin Doll Prelude to a Kiss

Thanks to "liarpolicians" for the youtube recording.

Channel 4 have presented a piece about the refugees who leave this country because they cannot get a fair trial in England (and Wales). This is actually mainly an English and Welsh problem.  There is a problem in Scotland and Northern Ireland, but proportionally it is much worse in England and Wales. That is because the jurisdiction that has problems is the English and Welsh jurisdiction. The stupidity of the government and lack of willingness to look at individual injustices adds to the errors of procedure in the courts. I have been advising people who have left the country since late 2007.

This article in The Independent looks at some of the problems with the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards. The systemic problems with this process are exacerbated by the Cheshire West decision in the court of appeal. Sam Smith , Lucy Series and Anna Raccoon (not her real name) have written some useful pieces about this. We are closer still to publishing the draft Family Justice Bill.

A lot of effort is going into the details of my private members bill. A draft bill should be published early next week. In the mean time, however, John Hemming and the Sisters of Jazz performed as part of the Birmingham Jazz Festival last sunday afternoon (at Hotel du Vin). Photos copyright Jim Simpson. More information on the festival is here Now I am back from parliament for the weekend I intend to see some of the gigs. There will be videos of our gig at some stage in the future.

I find it a bit odd that four people saw fit to highlight a tweet that I ate a ham and coleslaw baguette from Greggs in Birmingham. Whereas Only two people retweeted the fact that a journalist had been banned from the UK to prevent her from writing about things. C'est la vie.