John Hemming's Web Log

I have been contacted by a number of people to ask why I have been put on the naughty step by Mumsnet. There are a number of online fora in which I debate issues relevant to public policy. One is mumsnet.com another one is netmums.com . On Mumsnet there is poster whose user id is "spero". She happens to be a family court barrister who tweets as SVPhillimore . She and I have had a few disagreements in the past which are not worth going into. However, I posted the link above (the twitter link) on the mumsnet forum and a couple of other similar twitter links which were linking to the debate. Mumsnet then suspended my account saying: Hi, John. We're getting in touch as we've received a couple of reports about your posts on the 'child taken from the womb' thread, http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/in_the_news/a1938715-Child-taken-from-womb-Truth-into-darkness. It is against our talk guidelines (http://www.mumsnet.com/info/netiquette) to post information which...

On Wednesday there was an opposition debate. The motion can be found here and it said: That this House notes that the number of people using foodbanks provided by the Trussell Trust alone has increased from 41,000 in 2010 to more than 500,000 since April this year, of whom one third were children; further notes that over the last three years prices have risen faster than wages; further notes the assessment of the Trussell Trust that the key factors in the rising resort to foodbanks are rising living costs and stagnant wages, as well as problems including delays to social security payments and the impact of the under-occupancy penalty; calls on the Government to publish the results of research into foodbanks commissioned by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which Ministers promised would be made public in the summer of 2013; and further calls on the Government to bring forward measures to reduce dependency on foodbanks, including a freeze on energy prices, a water...

A Local Authority v C 2013 is a case where a mother has not been told anything about the case, but essentially the police are authorised to remove the child at birth. The key about this is that there is no-one arguing the mother's side of the argument. The allegations made by the state are essentially something that are allowed to stand without any challenge. If, as is asserted in this case, someone is to be considered incapable of looking after her child then why also do they encourage her to get pregnant and hold out to her the chance of looking after the child. However, the nub of this is I would like to hear the mother's view on these issues as to what is true. suesspiciousminds has a good look at this and concludes: I have some problems with this judgment and decision (not as a matter of law, the Judge followed Re D and balanced things but as a matter of principle and human rights). The remedy here for the removal at birth is that the mother has the opportunity to...

Professor Kennedy's report into the practice of Ian Patterson at Heartlands Hospital has just been released.  It is a good report and demonstrates how confidentiality can at times be used to protect the interests of the powerful. The problem is a more general culture of the Health Service to cover things up rather than resolve issues. I have two cases at Heartlands Hospital where whistle-blowers have found themselves subject to disciplinary action.  I have raised these with the hospital, but am unhappy with the response from the hospital.  The whistleblowing does not relate to the care of patients, but the same principles apply. From his report: 14.36 It is wrong, as well as pointless, to seek to control the flow of information to outside bodies so as to contain the impact of any particular event or set of circumstances. It prevents others from taking appropriate measures. It ensures that partial information will emerge in an unsystematic manner, thereby damagin...

A constituent approached me in 2011 raising concerns about the failure to consider the new evidence  It seemed that this should be considered and the court of appeal has now considered this.  On behalf of my constituent I spent some time working with his lawyer to get the CCRC to consider this aspect of the case. I am mainly concerned about two things directly relating to the appeal: a) How long it took for this evidence to be considered as part of an appeal.  This is an issue as to how the CCRC works. b) That the system continues to punish people who maintain their innocence. Both of these issues need to be considered. This is in fact the third criminal appeal I have assisted with where the defendant was found either to be not guilty or to have been wrongly sentenced.  There are other aspects of the process that cause me concern.  One is that the barrister who handles the case at the court of first instance is the person who also writes the opinion as t...

I have been getting emails from constituents claiming that I am known to support the Pilot Cull.  This confused me because I thought I had voted against.  It is, of course possible, that I had made a mistake so I checked. It is quite clear from Public Whip here that I did rebel on the issue on an opposition day motion. And I voted in support of the words: "That this House believes the badger cull should not go ahead." I am trying to find out which organisation is saying otherwise, but it does not help when campaigners get their facts wrong on basic things like this. I know that opposition day first votes are a bit confusing in that the procedural resolution is in support of the original words remaining part of the motion hence to vote against any amendment you actually vote "aye". That, however, is the way it is.

I was intending to write more on this and issues relating to VBAC. Instead I will refer to two posts written on Birthrights and Mental Health and Capacity Law which explain the situation well. I will also refer to the following comments by AIMS. The decision to have a Vaginal Birth after Caesarean (VBAC) had been a huge issue in our postbag and maternity care for a long time, and is very much associated with women's desire for control, and also their mental health. Originally the obstetricians policy was "once a caesarean, always a caesarean" and it was women themselves - particularly here, but also in the US - who wanted a chance to have a normal birth and many opted out of hospital care in this country to have home births, with private midwives or even no care, because they were pushed into having CS in hospital.  (of course this is not all women's choice - but we support their right to choose whatever it may be)  Finally both the ACOG in the States...

The judiciary have now published the judgment in respect of the Caesarean. It is here . I remain concerned that it does not appear that she was told that this was being proposed. If it is true that she had previously elected to have a Caesarean then it sounds odd that she was not asked on this occasion, but instead driven through a legal and medical procedure in which she had no input. I remain worried about how mental capacity is removed and it does not appear that the representative of the official solicitor who was "representing her interests" actually spoke to her. One would think that if she had been asked she would have agreed given that she agreed previously. Reading between the lines of the judgment the main issue appears to have been that she did not want to give birth in England. (understandably in retrospect) There are a number of questions about the details of the judgment. (such as what her condition actually was, whether she was being treated for the wro...

Sarah Matthews, a mother living in England, has petitioned parliament to raise concerns about the way in which courts decide that people have no right to make their own decisions. This is how it was decided that the Italian Mother was not allowed to decide not to have a caesarean section. The petition is in Hansard here Sarah Matthews has been gagged by Mr Justice Mostyn to stop her talking to the media about her case. John Hemming said about the petition:"The petition shows how the deck is stacked against people who wish to keep their rights to make decisions. I am only aware of two cases where such decisions have been resisted. One is continuing at the moment and the other is the subject of the petition." "The Italian authorities have argued that the mother in Italy should have been allowed to make her own decision and not have a caesarean. However, it appears that she was not even allowed to know that this was proposed and express a view. The system of remo...

The above was a case which looked at the issue of forced caesarians. This is an article that looks at the above case. In terms of the Italian case we cannot know on the information currently available the reasoning of the judge. It seems very clear, however, that there was an Article 6 contravention because the mother concerned was not made aware of the suggestion that she might have a caesarean and hence was unable to oppose it.

The UFTDU are similar to Liberty.

Report of Conversation with mother: John Hemming  said "I have spoken to the mother concerned who has been very badly treated by the authorities in England.  She has said to me that she would like to thank all the British people who have sent messages of support." Parliamentary proceedings "Now that we know that the case is still live and to be heard by Munby P it is clear that the case is sub judice.  That limits the range of parliamentary proceedings that can be used.   I have, therefore, tabled a Motion in parliament relating to the failures of Essex County Council in terms of Communication with Foreign Institutions.  This should appear tomorrow. Essex County Council's failure to follow international law Under the Vienna convention article 36 and also under Brussels II Bis revised  (Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003) articles 15, 55 and 56 the Italian authorities should have been contacted about both the mother’s imprisonment and the care of...

Response to statement from Judiciary: "I welcome the transfer of the case from Chelmsford County Court to the High Court in front of the president of the family division.  The appointment of the president of the family division was a very positive step and I am certain that any applications to him will be heard justly." "I remain concerned that many decisions taken by the family courts are taken by the magistrates court (the family proceedings court) and are then appealed to the county court.  This means that domestic proceedings can be exhausted without a case getting out of the area in which it is considered.  This means that there is never any public judgment and the case in the UK has come to an end.  All that people can then do is to take their case to Strasbourg." Comment about failure of Essex to follow proper proceedings: "The rules are straightforward when it comes to foreign nationals and care proceedings.  The foreign country concerned should b...

Unsurprisingly there is a lot of media interest in this case.  We do, however, need to remember that at the centre of this case is a mother and a baby (and the wider family including two siblings of the baby). I will be driven as to what I say to the media about the case by the wishes of the mother concerned.  I have been discussing that with her today.  I have already had a short conversation with her on the telephone and we have agreed to speak further later today.  However, I do not expect to be able to make any statement beyond this statement until after 5pm today or even later.  I am on the train at the moment which makes it really difficult to have long phone calls. In the mean time my team have been contacting the Italian Embassy to find out what their position is on this issue.   In previous cases the Polish, Czech and Slovak embassies have all been very supportive of their citizens facing unjust proceedings in the family division in England and...

The following is a statement by Bipolar UK: Bipolar UK response to media reporting on forced caesarean and continued separation of mother and child Th e forced caesarean and continued separation of mother and child is, we believe, unprecedented. It is sometimes the case that if someone is very ill they are unable to consent to a medical procedure which those caring for them consider is urgently needed.  But officials should make every effort to consult with the family before decisions are taken, a procedure made more difficult in this case because the woman was only on a short stay from Italy.  Moreover, if there were continuing concerns about the care of the child, one would have thought Italian social services would have been involved in determining what was best for the child. Women with bipolar may become unwell during pregnancy and are at high risk of becoming ill following childbirth.  The majority of women recover fully, they manage the impact o...

This story in The Telegraph is a step beyond the normal abuses in the family courts (and court of protection). This was a pregnant mother visiting the UK for a training course lasting only two weeks. It ends up with her baby being taken through a forcible caesarean and then placed for adoption for the usual spurious reasons that are used. Oddly enough last night I had another case of someone who was a foreign mother having her children taken for the system whilst she is deported. This is much like the case from which I highlighted a JR decision earlier this year. Mum was deported and the child kept. The Italian case is one about which more will be heard. Also the one raised with me last night. The USA case is one which has had some attention. In essence families count for nothing in the modern family court. The "best interests of the child" are "paramount" which means that what the social workers say goes. If a social worker does not say what the manage...

The case of Mark and Kerry McDougall who went to Ireland because she was considered not to have the capacity to marry or look after children is an important case. They have lived with two children in Ireland, but have now returned to Fife. The authorities have suddenly decided to take an interest without any good reason. This raises serious concerns about the way in which assessments are done in the UK.

Lets look at the story today: The children's services department at Birmingham City Council could be taken over by the Department for Education (DfE), the BBC has learned. and that of October More than a fifth of frontline social worker posts are unfilled in Birmingham, it has been revealed. A manager in Birmingham told me that he knew of experienced people who could be employed as social workers in Birmingham, but the government would not allow them because they did not have the right piece of paperwork. We should not be surprised of the existence of problems if only 80% of the staff are in place. Temporary agency staff are not the solution.

This case is an interesting one just reported by the Court of Appeal. The first question that should be asked is why it took the English judicial system over a year to decide it did not have jurisdiction. The second question is why the English Courts have decided there is an issue when the Swedish Courts have not. They cannot both be right. It is my view that the evidence in the family courts in England is frequently intellectually unreliable and as a consequence the decisions are not well grounded in reality. This case seems to substantiate my view and give good reasons why the system in England takes the wrong children into care.

I noted that the current council proposals are now much like my proposals of 2003. I voted against Metro in 1992. I thought that we should stick to heavy rail and bus/trolley bus. The image is my proposal from 2003 for Birmingham which is pretty well the current council proposal. I have a personal minority view historically otherwise I would have prioritised buses in the city centre rather than metro. However, c'est la vie.

To me the thing that is clear is that the council does not seem to care about the impact on Omar of their legal threats. I am trying to get the council to respond sensibly, but they don't seem able to.

This is not, however, the end of the process to get Stechford Railway Station's access issues resolved. It is, however, an important first step.

This is not, however, the end of the process to get Stechford Railway Station's access issues resolved. It is, however, an important first step.

Appealing this case would be now moot. However, there are some points to be made. Firstly, it is in my view a responsibility of parents who separate to make reasonable efforts to ensure that a good relationship is maintained between both parents and children. There are circumstances under which this is obviously not reasonable (when one of the parents is a real threat to the children). However, this is clearly a responsibility. However, the objective of maintaining contact between parent and child does not permit the court to behave unlawfully. There are a number of problems with this case. The first is that the court should not ordinarily hear a contempt hearing of its own motion. The second hearing (and the third) should have been held by a different judge to the one who heard it. The second is that legal assistance should have been made available before the grandparents and aunt were locked up on bail. It raises a question really as to whether effectively a form of collec...

For me the particularly interesting aspect of the secret imprisonment of 11th October is that it appears that the judge imprisoned the mother because the judge did not believe what she said. Now that means that the judge is actually prosecuting the mother for perjury as well as sitting in judgment. The mother said her children were somewhere, but they were not. The point about this is that there are lots of legal precedents that the judge should not sit in judgment on this case and hence it could be challenged on appeal. How does one do that when one knows neither the name of the mother of her solicitors.

This story in the Sunday Times looks at the evidence that the numbers of deaths from child abuse and neglect are not going down and possibly going up. That is at a time when more children are taken into care. It is important to remember that taking a child into care is supposed to be a measure to prevent significant harm. Hence if the numbers taken into care are going up, but it is having no effect on the most significant harm of death then a question should be asked as to whether the right things are being done. There always will be a financial need to limit the number of children taken into care. When Haringey were considering whether or not to take Peter Connolly into care they were under severe pressures. The fact is that there were children in care at the time in Haringey who were taken into care because their mother might say things to them that might undermine their self esteem. If those children were not in care there would have been space for Peter Connolly. It isn...

This is a story that resulted from a hearing in Court 45 at the RCJ (Royal Courts of Justice) yesterday. These are the sorts of imprisonments that have tended not to be revealed by the system, but are now more likely to be revealed. There was, in fact, one similar to this which was revealed earlier this year. However, it does appear that the judges are now starting to follow the rules which has to be positive. As to the underlying case it depends in part on how frail the pensioners are as to whether this is or is not an appropriate action to take. I was contacted recently by someone representing a group of people who have left the country to get away from the biased procedures (Lashin v Russia) that operate in England and Wales. I hope to see this reported in some way (even if it is only on my web log) in the future. I am not sure myself whether this will produce the result that the system is trying to get. However, it is only when there is a pattern of such cases that it beco...

What we know (and was reported by PA) is that at a hearing which started at 9.30am in Court 35 in the RCJ Theis J committed a woman to jail. On 2nd August Sir James Munby the President of the Family Division sent out a circular which clarified the practice directions of May and June. The circular is Here in a PDF form, but this is what it said. From: President of FD  Sent: 02 August 2013 11:02  To: ZZ RCJ Family High Court Judges; ZZ DFJs; ZZHMCTS Justices Clerks; Arbuthnot,  District Judge  Subject: PRESIDENT'S CIRCULAR - COMMITTALS  Dear All,  You will recall the Guidance on Committals issued by the LCJ and me on 3 May 2013 and the  supplemental Guidance I issued on 4 June 2013. In relation to the latter may I remind you of  paragraph 5.  A question has arisen as to whether paragraph 6 of the original Guidance applies in all  committal cases or only in cases to which paragraphs 4 and 5 apply.  Paragraph 6 applie...

This is a judgment about a case that I know nothing more than what is in the published judgment. It is interesting in that the Slovaks have asked for some Slovak Children who are citizens of Slovakia to be sent to Slovakia, but the court has refused.

There was a protest today where students came as part of a "day of action" about student finance. The first point I would make is that although this occupation was better behaved than the previous occupation it still disrupted the business of my office. The business of my office involves solving problems for constituents. Hence it is not fair to my constituents. There are limits to protest. Violent protests are not acceptable. The occupation was generally well behaved, but there was an attempt to push past me into my office. (I was holding the door shut) That actually is the use of violence even though I have told the police that I do not wish to take this further. The issue they were raising about the certainty of the arrangement of finance is a very important principle. It is important that when students commit to a financial arrangement that this is stuck to by government. It is governed by a number of statutory instruments. One if SI 2012/1309 The Education (S...

This is a link to a petition from a translator working in the family courts. It states: The Petition of an interpreter working in England, Declares that the interpreter works in family court proceedings translating for families who speak Czech and Slovak. She has been shocked at the way in which a judge was partial in proceedings and the evidence that was accepted which would never be accepted anywhere else in courts. There was a social worker who was interrogated by both sides who was asked whether the grandmother behaved appropriately with her daughter in the contact centre and the social worker said “yes she did”. The next question was whether she would behave appropriately in her own house. The social worker said that she could not say that she would and hence the court decided not to place the child with the grandmother. Furthermore the grandparents were criticised for approaching the media in England. In a second case the family had signed documentation that they did not un...

The Family I have interviewed below are one of many families to have left the UK to avoid the forced adoption industry. What is unusual about this particular family is that a Belgian family have offered to look after them as refugees because the Belgians are opposed to the way in which the English system works. I have interviewed both the mother and father and the mother and father with whom they are staying.

The issues here are complex and I will try to explain them accurately (using the figures for 2013-14), but it is always worthwhile checking things out as to precise details. There has been considerable debate about the change in policy so that tenants in Social Housing have to pay for any spare rooms in the same way that tenants in Private Rented properties have to pay the extra rent for a spare room. The difference in Social Housing is that the rent is subsidised and housing benefit pays all of the rent apart from the spare room. In Private Rented rents are higher and if the rent without a spare room is greater than the lowest 3 in ten properties in the area then housing benefit is limited to that amount. In a home (flat or house) there is the basic household which could be a single person or couple with or without dependent children. However, at times there might be "non-dependents" in the household. Those are normally adult children who have grown up, but not left t...

This case is the one the fuss has been about over the weekend. It is where a court had decided that an 11 and 15 year old should get the MMR vaccination when they and their mother oppose this and the father wants it. Personally I am supportive of the MMR vaccination and think it is appropriate for my own children. However, I do have some difficulties with the approach of the court particularly in respect of a 15 year old girl. This falls into the questions of Gillick competence and the like. If you have a toddler or an older child who has no strong views then that is one approach. However, if you have a child who is 15 I feel uncomfortable about forcing a decision on that child. The courts do seem too willing to impose a judicial decision on people who are from a capacity perspective competent. Before the recess I assisted a young man with Muscular Dystrophy in resisting such an imposition. However, I do think there are issues about the extent to which people's decisions ...

Que se passe-t-il donc en Angleterre au niveau des services sociaux de protection de l’enfance ? Par : stefan.bastin@gmail.com  – Octobre 2013. La situation anglaise n’est en rien comparable avec le fonctionnement dans les services sociaux belges francophones ou avec un certain nombre d’autres pays d’Europe. Les services sociaux anglais sont bien-sur fonctionnels et compétents. Mais, ils posent aussi question. Nous allons tenter de cerner par quelques exemples et quelques points le dysfonctionnement. Nous nous référerons notamment aux articles et 3 reportages de Florence Bellone sur la RTBF [1] à son témoignage écrit au parlement anglais [2]  ; mais aussi à des sites officiels, des études et des articles de journaux anglais et encore au seul reportage télévisuel que j’ai trouvé sur le sujet et qui fut diffusé par canal plus [3] . Mise en question par l’exemple : Vous avez un compagnon qui devient violent. Vous osez finaleme...

There are a number of reasons why this is good for the area. There is the general economic issue that involves people having jobs. Then there are additional houses and in particular some rented houses at reasonable rents (from Birmingham Municipal Housing Trust). Perhaps 20 houses will be available by May 2014 and the remaining 80 finished in 2015.

This video is a video of a mother and baby being taken away somewhere in Somerset. No-one involved seems to understand what the law is. The police officers refer to a "police protection order". What they are actually doing is using Section 46 of the Children Act where the police have powers to take children into police protection. For the purposes of this Act, a child with respect to whom a constable has exercised his powers under this section is referred to as having been taken into police protection. At times this power is abused by the local authority childrens services. They tell the police a child is at risk and the police go and arrest the child. The danger for the mother is that she only has a roughly 20% chance of getting her baby back. (whether she goes to the hospital with the baby or not). Most likely what should have happened is that the local authority should have applied for an emergency protection order. That is a better system because because it g...

Here's the letter:

The serious case review on Keanu Williams was published earlier today. To a great extent the recommendations are the same as previous serious case reviews. I quote below on key recommendations from this report and the one from March 2009 (which dealt with a very similar case). From Serious Case Review 8 dated 14th March 2009 (8 pages long) When a child is presented to the Accident and Emergency Department there is a great need to challenge the history of an injury and any inconsistencies relating to that history as part of sound clinical skills in analysing paediatric injuries. There is great importance in using discussions with seniors as a forum for challenging opinions of juniors. These discussions must be documented. There is a need for greater awareness of safeguarding procedures particularly around referral to Children’s Social Care. Second opinions should be sought in equivocal cases, where the need for referral to child protection services is uncertain. There is importan...

I wrote an article published in PC Pro which explained why the technical approach to content filtering is one which should cause concern. The essence of the article is that it is wrong to have a centralised database which records everyone's content preferences and that this information should be stored in the domestic router (as some routers do). As it currently stands the four largest ISP's all offer systems which use a centralised database. The following are the comments that I have from each of the ISPs. Virgin Media said: We're in the process of transitioning from our existing device-based parental controls solution, to a new, DNS network-based solution. By the end of 2014 all new and existing customers will be given the choice of whether to implement these new controls. Through a robust, two-step verification process, we will ensure it is only the adult account holder who makes the decision on whether to apply the filters. Our new solution is applied at a hous...

Behind this judgment is a long history which causes me considerable concern. However, as is often the case it would be contempt of court to say what the concerns are. However, the fact that this has been prevented from being considered before the Court of Appeal even on paper does cause me further concern ... more later.

The table below is part of the Statistical First Release. It demonstrates that the increase in adoption numbers isn't as a result of getting older children "languishing" in care adopted, but instead in an increase in toddlers and pre-schoolers getting adopted. Some children are placed for adoption because the courts claim that the mother agrees to this when she doesn't. Others are in care because of mums political views (going on an EDL march for example). I really don't think this is other than state sponsored child stealing. Obviously we need a child protection system but it doesn't protect children from being starved to death or indeed from being raped whilst in the care of the local authority. What it does do is get children adopted.

These are today's figures for SSE. Note the overall profit of 62.31p per share in a turnover of 2935.07 per share. This is a profit of just over 2% of turnover. The problem is the underlying price of energy. That, however, is set by the global markets and we are energy importers. If you have a retail price freeze and an increase in the underlying price of energy then there is only a 2% leeway of profit before the company goes into losses. The first thing that would stop is the investment in new plant. Without new plant we face the threat of blackouts. Companies like BG (British Gas) make a higher proportion of profit because they are benefiting from producing fossil fuels and are not mainly a retail company.

I spoke last Thursday about the investigation in the Slovak Republic into corruption in the courts in England. There is a press report on Joj TV (in Slovak, but you can use Google translate on the text), here and here The following is the statement by the General Prosecutor in the Slovak Republic Jana Tokolyova, spokesman of the only biggest institution of investigation in the country, called General Prokuratura. On Monday Silvia M. has made criminal complaint. On Wednesday, the director of General Prokuratura met the deputy director of National criminal agency of Police Prezidium and they have named a special agent that will deal with this case. We will not publish further information because of possible investigation obstruction. ---------- Původní zpráva ---------- Datum: 14. 8. 2013 Předmět: Re: dotaz pro TV JOJ Vážený pán Krpač, V pondelok 12. 8. 2013 podala Silvia M. na Generálnej prokuratúre Slovenskej republiky trestné oznámenie. Vzhľadom na obsa...