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- Two barristers had separated in January 2019. The husband wished an immediate order for sale of the family home to be made, to enable him to enforce his entitlement to £250,000 plus statutory interest. The wife hoped for a finding that the entire order approving a previous agreement should be set aside, with the effect of putting the case back to square one with all arguments re-opened. HHJ Edward Hess reached a clear view that the facts of this case did not pass the "setting aside" test from Walkden v Walkden [2010] 1 FLR 174: "given the importance attached to finality in settlements of this nature, the circumstances must be truly exceptional before a capital settlement can be re-opened". After considering the fairness of the parties' suggested scenarios, he decided in the end that making an order for sale, but delaying its implementation, would be the scenario most likely to give both parties some prospect of a reasonable financial future. Judgment, 18/03/2021, free
- An appeal against an order prohibiting counsel acting for the father from accepting further instructions from him in proceedings under Part II of the Children Act 1989. The father was from Pakistan, the mother from the UK, and they had married under Islamic law, separating two years later. Counsel in question had previously acted for the father, liaising with the mother, in immigration proceedings, following which the mother had made a complaint of professional misconduct against her. MacDonald J dismissed this appeal. It was possible that counsel's continued participation would lead to a reasonable lay apprehension of unfairness. The judge had not failed to give adequate weight to the potential for the mother to adopt a tactical position amounting to an abuse of process. Given the evidence before the court of counsel's highly personalised responses to the mother's complaints, the potential for difficulties to arise in cross-examination of the mother by counsel was plain. Judgment, 14/10/2020, free
- The father sought permission to appeal out of time against a district judge's finding of fact that he had abused his daughter. Francis J decided that the findings were so unsafe and their consequences so series that they could not be allowed to stand, despite the exceptional delay in appealing. He noted with surprise the district judge's assertion that the mother's counsel could conduct the cross-examination of the expert witness on behalf of the litigant-in-person father as well as the mother, a suggestion which Francis J said was "incorrect and plainly wrong". The expert had not been cross-examined on his misunderstanding of a previous judgment in the case, and in failing to depart from the expert's view the district judge fell into further error. The procedure adopted was irregular enough to cause injustice within the meaning of FPR Part 30. Permission to appeal out of time was granted, the appeal was allowed and the finding of fact set aside. The matter would be remitted for re-hearing by a High Court judge of the Family Division. Judgment, 19/05/2020, free
- The Court of Appeal recently gave judgment in XW v XH [2019] EWCA Civ 2262, an appeal by the wife (‘W’) against the financial remedy order made by Mr Justice Baker (as he then was) on 21 December 2017 (see XW v XH [2017] EWFC 76). He had ordered that W should receive capital resources which, when added to her own assets, would give her approximately £152m – a significant sum, but equal to only 29% of the parties’ combined capital resources of £530m. Judgment, 03/02/2020, free
- The case concerned an application by the husband to set aside: a) an order for deemed service of a divorce petition; b) all orders which stemmed from that petition (certificate of entitlement, decree nisi, decree absolute). The question for the court was: did the alleged procedural errors in service render the orders void or voidable? The court concluded that: a) under the Family Procedure Rules (“FPR”) the alleged errors in service would not necessarily render these orders void; b) when considering the prejudice to both parties, this was not a case where the orders were void; d) if the orders were voidable the court would not exercise its discretion and set aside the orders. The husband’s application was dismissed. News, 13/12/2019, free
- The father had difficulties with anger management, volatility and aggression. The circuit judge had made a child arrangements order, including orders for supervised contact, non-molestation and prohibited steps, against which the father had, following a course of therapy, unsuccessfully appealed. He now appealed with regard to the fairness of those hearings. Baker LJ found that there had been no indication to the father, a litigant in person, that the court would be making orders in respect of his future contact or concluding the proceedings. The summary dismissal of his appeal had also been wrong. The two hearings together represented an unwarranted infringement of his rights to a fair hearing. Peter Jackson LJ agreed, and the matter was remitted for a further hearing. Judgment, 28/05/2019, free
- Judgment in financial remedy proceedings. The final order awarded the wife greater share of the assets, the inequality partly attributable to the wife's debilitating illness and consequent reduced earning capacity. Costs were at least £1.1m which drew some criticism from Franics J at [2-3]. Judgment, 17/01/2019, free
- Appeal by wife against financial remedy order that awarded 55% to the wife. Appeal dismissed by Black LJ as the original order could be said to be wrong for any reason. Judgment, 26/07/2016, free
- Judgment in financial remedy proceedings where Roberts J had to factor in a pre-acquired property portfolio of the husband. The wife was award over 50% of the marital acquest as her needs required it. Judgment, 08/07/2016, free
- Financial remedy case where the wife ended up with 71% of the assets largely because of gifts and inheritance received by her and which were unmatched by the husband. Judgment, 24/06/2015, free