UPDATE: Since the death of Ellie Butler, we have written a clarification, explaining the reasons behind the post below. We have also offered to remove this post if Ellie’s family would like us to. Researching Reform is shocked and saddened by Ellie’s passing, and our thoughts and prayers are with her family. 

In a recent case, which has since been made public and appears to publish the names not only of the parents, but the children involved, there are some extraordinary skills to be appreciated and welcomed.

Family law often finds itself at the cutting edge of medicine and medical conditions, due to the fact that there is still so much we don’t know and we can’t deduce, that only the greatest care and the finest consideration will do and we feel this case and the judge who dealt with it, delivered just that.

Mrs Justice Hogg found herself having to pour over detailed medical evidence and testimony in a case which saw a mother and father lose their child to the local authority over what was believed to be non accidental injuries. However, this was later disproved and happily for the parents and their daughter, they were reunited, but not before facing the threat of losing their newborn who came into the world during the proceedings concerning their first daughter.

It’s not everyday you see such meticulous care in the family court system, nor is it usual to come across such courage and clear headed thinking, but for all those attributes, we would like to award Mrs Justice Hogg our Judge of the Week.

And as always, the parents and children are the unsung heroes in a system which has not yet found a way to treat our families with the compassion they deserve.