Legislation has been proposed which would appear to be intended to remove the status of Parental Responsibility of a father who is convicted of the most serious sexual offence involving a child i.e. rape child under 13. 

Parental Responsibility is a legal status which enables a person to be involved with and make decisions about matters concerning a child’s welfare.   This would consist of all the usual sort of decisions that parents must make regarding where children live, go to school, what happens with their medical treatment, name they are known by, whether they are taken out of the country for any reason. 

A mother automatically has Parental Responsibility, and a father has it if he was married to the mother or if his name appears on the child’s birth certificate. 

A father can retain Parental Responsibility even if he has no contact with the children because he has failed to obtain it or if he has chosen not to.  Either way he still has that legal status, and this still has weight for example when it comes to seeking consent to the removal of a child from the jurisdiction of the court even if only for holiday purposes. 

This means that a person who has committed an extremely serious offence has precluded the possibility of having contact with his own children and still exercise an influence from afar and require a mother to make applications to the court if his consent is not forthcoming for holidays abroad of other significant changes. 

The intention of this proposed amendment would appear to be to take the convicted person out of the equation so that they no longer need to be consulted and no longer can they exert control. 

Not having Parental Responsibility does not mean that a father cannot make applications to the court himself relating to his children.  Losing that status, however, means that he would not have to be consulted of applications made to the court in the absence of his consent whether or not that consent is reasonably withheld. 

The introduction of “no fault divorce” in 2022 has, to a large extent, taken the heat out of the divorce process by no longer requiring details for the reason of the breakdown of the marriage. 

It is, however, all too easy to go through that divorce process, especially if solicitors have not been instructed without giving thought at the time to financial and property issues that arise out of the marriage breakdown.  

The Court will not take the initiative in resolving these issues and I see many situations where the divorce itself has been concluded, but there are formal steps taken to sort out financial issues.  Sometimes informal arrangements are made between spouses which they both consider to be entirely satisfactory. 

It is important, however, to remember that such matters cannot be regarded as closed unless and until there is a Court Order in place.  There is no time limitation on making applications to the Court to deal with orders and people can receive an unpleasant surprise if they think all these matters were sorted out several years ago, only to find that they are very much still alive. 

If you have reached an agreement with your spouse, whether it be in mediation or by private discussion, it is very important to make sure that that agreement is set out in the form of a Court Order and approved by the Court, otherwise it can represent a very serious loose end.  

Achieving finality is very important, especially when assets, especially pensions, will very likely continue to grow in value post-separation. 

I would very much urge anyone who either thinks they have reached agreement or still has to reach an agreement, to take legal advice with a view to achieving that very necessary finality. 

For a long time now legal aid in family proceedings has been very restrictive and even though it is over 10 years since those changes were introduced, it still comes as an unpleasant shock to people who may be on benefits or otherwise have a very limited income to find that they are not eligible for legal aid to help them with issues concerning divorce or children. 

Legal aid is still available for certain applications, such as for Non-Molestation Orders to provide protection.  However, in cases relating to divorce finances, or disputes as to children’s arrangements, you first have to provide the necessary gateway evidence of domestic violence/domestic abuse, or risk to children. 

There are very specific regulations as to what constitutes appropriate gateway evidence for this purpose and it is not enough, for example, to be able to show that the police may have been called a number of times if that did not convert into any action being taken. 

Legal aid, however, remains available for public law proceedings involving the Local Authority, and is automatically available to a parent or a person who otherwise has parental responsibility in applications by the Local Authority for care orders for children. 

It is important to remember, however, that even if you have the gateway evidence, you still have to qualify an assessment of your financial means, and as to the merits of the case. 

Employers have a common law duty of care towards their employees to ensure they are safe whilst working.

If you have been involved in an accident at work, your employer may have breached that duty of care they hold towards you.

Accidents at work can result in injuries caused by defective work equipment, lifting injuries, the failure of your employer to provide personal protective equipment and to provide a safe place of work and also injuries caused by fellow employees. The accident may happen at your workplace, which can include:

• Offices

• Factories

• Heavy machinery operatives

• Hospitality industry

• Construction sites

• Shops/supermarkets

• Vehicle drivers

• Hospital

• School/College/University

If you want further information click here