It is with some sadness here at Researching Reform that we bid farewell to the APPG and its lovely team, Emily Wilson-Gavin and Martin Shapland. Having been Secretariat for the Group for many months, Researching Reform is now moving to pastures new and moving forward with other mischief (more of that later).

It is not adieu forever to the All Party Parliamentary Group though, as Researching Reform will continue to assist in the background but a big thank you is owed to John Hemming MP for the opportunity to be a part of the Group. It was lots of fun and a fantastic experience for which we are very grateful. It was a privilege to work with Baroness Deech too.

Researching Reform has ants in its pants: stay tuned for the next phase of the adventure!

The APPG on Family Law held a speaker meeting on transparency in the family justice system on Tuesday 29th March and some of the media is now available from the meeting.

You’re welcome to check out the speeches given by the panel members on the night, notes, photos and much more. (Further content to come)!

The APPG on Family Law is holding a parliamentarians’ meeting on Thursday 31st March entitled “Prenups and Proposals: The Law Commission Consultation” which seeks to look at the Commission’s work on marital property agreements and explore possible avenues for reform.

The APPG website has an introduction , a welcome letter and a press release for the event.

Although the meeting is primarily for parliamentarians, there are a number of seats available for members of the public so please do get in touch, if you haven’t done so already!

The Law Commission’s Property, Family Law and Trusts Team are currently working on marital property agreements, specifically “A project, examining the status and enforceability of marital property agreements made between spouses or civil partners (or those contemplating marriage or civil partnership) concerning their property and finances”.

To this end, The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Family Law and the Court of Protection are holding an event in the House of Commons on Thursday 31st March from 11-12.30pm, with guest speakers Professor Elizabeth Cooke who was appointed Commissioner with responsibility for Property, Family and Trust Law at the Law Commission, Mark Harper, a partner at Withers whose work involves pre-nuptial and pre-civil partnership agreements and chairing the meeting will be Baroness Deech, vice chair of the APPG on Family Law. 

The event will seek to discuss the current proposals for legislation surrounding marital agreements.

Currently, the event itself is scheduled for parliamentarians but spaces will be made available for members of the public who would like to attend. In this way, it would be wonderful to have an idea of how many individuals would like to come along for this discussion, so that we can make provisions for seats. Please do leave a comment below if you would like to come along and we’ll do our best to ensure everyone’s accommodated. Thank you!

This is the Press Release for the APPG’s next event, “Transparency: Privacy and the Public Interest”, which is taking place on Tuesday 29th March, in the House of Commons. It’s an open event, so if you would like to come along, please get in touch and we will send you an invitation.

Thank you!

Press Release: “Transparency: Privacy and the Public Interest”

The APPG on Family Law’s next event will be all about accountability and transparency in the family justice system and to that end we’ve titled it “Transparency: Privacy and the Public Interest”.

Do you think privacy and public interest are mutually exclusive, as they are so often portrayed, or are they just two sides of the same coin that need to be taken into account to make the family justice system whole?

Come and have your say and hear what others think at the APPG’s next open event above, which is going to take place on Tuesday 29th March, in the House of Commons at 6.30pm. The panel is superb and sure to spark debate.

If you would like more details on the event, the APPG website is currently displaying information on the panel members and a short introduction to the issues surrounding transparency and the discussion on 29th March itself. The Press Release will be available shortly.

Should you like to come along (and everyone does have tremendous fun, despite the serious nature of the topic and the genuine emotions that are relayed both from the floor and the panel) you’re very welcome to leave your email address below and we’ll add you to the APPG mailing list, if you are not on it already.

Look forward to seeing you there!

The APPG on Family Law now has photos of the event up on its website. Surprisingly, no-one cried, threw shoes or sulked…..now you can see for yourself 🙂

For smiley photos of panel members and the audience, click this way…..