The latest entry in our Encyclopaedia is an explanation of the new Child Arrangements Programme, written by Lorna Borthwick, a barrister at Cornwall Street Chambers.

It is a must-read for anyone who would like to get to grips with the new developments in private family law and is simply perfection. From its elegant structure, to its clear, simple language and beyond (Lorna explains the current nuances in the area brilliantly), it should be your go-to material for information on the Private Law Programme. If you’re representing yourself in court, or you’re a McKenzie friend we think you’ll find this article incredibly helpful too.

If you want to chat with Lorna in real time, you can catch her over on Twitter. 

A very big thank you to Lorna for her piece.

Your submissions mean the world to us, and they are deeply valued by those who are looking for more information on the family justice system. If you would like to submit a piece, we would love to hear from you. Do take a look at Lorna’s submission in the mean time; it’s a perfect template.

We’re delighted to let you know that we have some fresh articles for you over at our Encyclopaedia on Family and The Law, and they make for excellent reading, even if we do say so ourselves.

This week we can offer you the super Glynne Davies’ explanation of what a SPIP is and how it works, definitely worth a read if you’re interested in parenting programmes.

We also have not one, but three articles written by Gill Phillips, who is the Director of Editorial Legal Services, over at The Guardian newspaper. Gill has chosen to write about media reporting and the family courts. Her first article focuses on the family courts and the reporting of criminal cases involving children. It’s a must-read.

Gill’s second article looks at the developments in the family courts surrounding the reporting restrictions and media reporting generally. Her final piece is a snapshot of the developments surrounding applications for anonymity in cases involving settlements of medical negligence claims.

All wonderful articles, all worthy of a peak. Enjoy….

We’re very excited to be able to share this latest entry with you on the Encyclopaedia, by Dr Lucy Series who writes the wonderful The Small Places blog.

Dr Series is a Research Associate at Cardiff Law School, currently working on a research project funded by the Nuffield Foundation, looking at welfare cases in the Court of Protection.

Lucy’s research interests include legal capacity, disability rights and community care law. Her submission for the Encyclopaedia explains the fundamental principles behind the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and its relationship with parent carers.

She has a PhD from Exeter University, which examined the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and the deprivation of liberty safeguards, using republican political theory.

She has written for several publications, including The Guardian, Community Care and Local Government Lawyer.

We are incredibly grateful to Lucy for her submission; it is a wonderful addition to the Encyclopaedia.

You can follow Dr Series on Twitter, here.

Dr Lucy Series

Through the kindness of our contributors, the Encyclopaedia has added another article to its slowly growing database. This time, the topic is Shuttle Mediation and it makes for an interesting read.

Written by Glynne Davies, a mediator at Oliver Fisher Solicitors, “Shuttle Mediation: Mediating on the back foot? “ takes a look at whether this kind of mediation and mediation in general is a dwindling phenomenon or the key to unlocking some potentially useful styles of negotiation for families going through divorce or separation.

For those of us who have not come across Shuttle Mediation before (that includes us), we’ll leave you to read the article to find out more. You may be as surprised as we were to discover how it works, and there’s just a touch of brilliance to it, too.

Thank you to Glynne Davies and Jo Shortland for donating this piece.

We’ve been very quiet over the last few weeks on the subject of our Encyclopaedia, which is a free resource for parents and practitioners alike and will, we hope, house lots of informative and easy to follow articles on all things Family Law and Family Court related, but with good reason….

Our silence has been due to a burgeoning backstage shuffle, as we chat with people and find ourselves being approached by professionals who wish to work on the project with us; we’ve been very fortunate. It’s a big machine this encyclopaedia and we’re not sure we’ll be able to get the whole thing on its legs at once, but we’re trying and we hope to have some good news for you in the not too distant future.

We just wanted to check in with you to let you know the project is still humming along, we haven’t forgotten the need for it and we’re still moving behind the scenes to bring it to life.

In the meantime, if you would like to contribute, please do read our guidelines. We’ve had a phenomenal amount of interest in the form of submissions but we’re being very picky – we only want the best and the formatting has to be just right, so that members of the public who are not used to our legal ways can understand every word. So our acceptance rate is low, for now. We’re also in the process of looking over several articles kindly donated to us, and our very first article, generously given to us by the Centre for Social Justice is already safely lodged in our compendium.

And if you’ve got a spare digestive biscuit (the one that’s been soaking too long in your tea and now looks perilously close to lopping off into your tea-cup and sinking to the murky depths of your mug), why not check our amazing, dazzling, groovy Editorial Board.…..!

We’d also like to thank everyone for their patience; we tend to put our pro bono work first which means other things get put on the back burner from time to time, but much like oversized elephants, we never forget…..

We are over the moon, delighted and just plain excited to announce that our first encyclopaedic entry is now up. The piece, from the Centre for Social Justice, is an Opinion piece on intestacy and the proposed Inheritance (Cohabitants) Private Members Bill, written by Dr Samantha Callan.

We will have other pieces to follow shortly, but as this is our first posting, we thought we would make it special.

Many thanks to Dr Callan and the Centre for Social Justice for kindly sharing this information and for being a very special entry in and of itself; our first one.

Dr Samantha Callan, Centre for Social Justice

We’re delighted to announce that the Encyclopaedia on Family and The Law has a new member on its editorial team.

Fran Feeley is an experienced social worker who not only practices at the hugely innovative St Michael’s Fellowship but is also a member of staff at the ground-breaking Centre for Child Protection.

As a cutting-edge social worker, Fran is at the forefront of risk assessment and believes strongly that a love of family is essential to carry out social work, as well as a desire to try to keep families together wherever possible.

We’re thrilled Fran has agreed to join the editorial team and we look forward to pestering her with content to look over when it comes in!

The photo below is of Dr Shemmings, co-founder of the Centre for Child Protection, but click on the picture and you can watch Fran in action as she talks with Dr Shemmings about social work (video)