When a child is taken by one parent to a foreign country away from their other parent, emotions will always run high and the law will often be complex. Recently the BBC attempted to explore the legal minefield that is international child abduction law by covering the story of Tracy, whose daughter had been taken by her father, a Czech citizen, from Bradford to the Czech Republic. In the programme the BBC suggested that: ‘Under the Hague Convention, which governs cases of child custody waged across international borders, a child’s base is considered to be the country in which he…
Our new partner, Jeremy Ford, brings to Cambridge Family Law Practice his experience in international family law. Earlier this year, Jeremy, at short notice, represented the children in a fact finding hearing in the High Court which tested the jurisdictional capacity of English law and which considered the best interests of four siblings who had been brought up in different jurisdictions. This case was reported as M v F & Ors [2018] EWHC 1720 (Fam) (16 February 2018) and is a good example of how the court addressed the issue of a litigant in person, who was an alleged perpetrator,…
A new report, published by Surrogacy UK, claims to dispel many of the myths concerning international surrogacy and brings into focus the practice of surrogacy in the UK. Surrogacy laws were first introduced about 30 years ago but society and the medical options available to couples have changed over the years since then. Many parents, medics and legal professionals (uncluding us at CFLP!) have concluded that the current surrogacy legislation, once thought to be ground breaking, is no longer ‘fit for purpose’ and doesn’t meet the needs of the surrogate, the parents and, most importantly, the baby. This new report…
What is important in families to support healthy psychological adjustment and gender development for children? Is family structure the crucial factor? That is, does parents’ gender, number, their sexual orientation and genetic connection matter for children’s development? What role is also played by other factors such as the quality of relationships in the family, warmth, levels of interaction, openness of communication and methods of discipline? Research conducted by Susan Golombok, Professor of Family Research and Director of the Centre for Family Research at the University of Cambridge, in her recent publication, ‘Modern Families – Parents and Children in new Family…
