Sir Mark Potter, President of the Family Division, has published a report by Lord Justice Wall investigating judicial involvement in cases mentioned in a Women’s Aid report into child homicide.
The original report identified 29 children from 13 families who were killed by their fathers between 1994-2004, following a breakdown in their parents’ relationship. 18 of the 29 murdered children were not subject to any form of court proceedings. However, the report identified five cases – concerning 11 children in all - in which a court order had been obtained for the father to have contact with his children.
In 2004 when the issue was discussed at the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee, Lord Justice Wall while giving evidence suggested that it would be helpful if a senior judge looked at the five cases in detail, to see under what circumstances and on what evidence the contact orders have been granted.
His detailed report has now been completed and submitted to the President of the Family Division. It concluded that – after a rigorous examination of the case files – eight of the eleven children who tragically died in these cases did so as a result of parental actions which could not reasonably have been foreseen or anticipated by the court on the material available before it.
The remaining three children were the subject of 2 cases, in both of which the judge was presented with consent orders agreed between the representatives of the parties. Lord Justice Wall said that it was not clear whether the court should have been more proactive in investigating the circumstances and refusing contact despite such agreement. There were arguments in both cases for the order being made in what were genuinely believed to be the best interests of the child despite earlier indications of violence between the parents.
Lord Justice Wall makes three recommendations in the report:
- The Family Justice Council should consider and prepare a report to the President on the approach the courts should adopt to proposed consent orders in contact cases where domestic violence is an issue.
- There should be a more rigorous approach to safety in cases where a parent has been violent to their partner but not to the child.
- On judicial training, no judge should sit for the first time in private family law proceedings without having undergone training that includes multi-disciplinary induction on domestic violence. All refresher training courses should contain updating on domestic violence issues.
The President said:
“I have accepted the recommendations made by Lord Justice Wall in his comprehensive and thorough report. In particular I will be referring his report to the Family Justice Council, which has representatives from across the spectrum of family law professionals and interested parties. I will be asking them to consider what approach courts should take on proposed consent orders in contact cases where domestic violence is an issue.
“I wish to place on record my gratitude to Lord Justice Wall for the painstaking way he has undertaken this report. These were tragic cases – it was right of Women’s Aid to highlight the issue and it is right that all who work in the family justice system should do their utmost to avoid such tragedies. The responsibility for murdering a child lies on the murderer, but the family justice system must do all it can to protect children and make contact safe.”
Parts 1 and 8 of Lord Justice Wall’s report have been published on the website. Parts 2-7 concerned the individual cases and court files reviewed. They have been submitted to the Government, Constitutional Affairs Select Committee and the Women’s Aid Foundation of England (WAFE).
In his introduction to his report Lord Justice Wall concluded:
“Whilst I by no means agree with everything in it, I welcome WAFE’S initiative in publishing 29 Child Homicides. However painful they are, practitioners in the Family Justice System need regular reminders of the evils of domestic violence. The document provides one such reminder.”
Ends
