Child Protection Resource

TLDR: This is the text of a presentation I made at the St Johns Chambers conference on May 13 2026.

Screenshot My near 30 years in practice have shown me that without a doubt, there are parents of both sexes who do or say things that have a negative impact on their children and which turn them away from a parent they either previously loved or at least…

Screenshot The rise and fall of adoption In 1968 there were 25,000 adoptions, reflecting a society where illegitimacy was still stigmatised and there were many babies available with mothers who offered reluctant consent, having no other way of providing f…

On 3rd June 2025 the High Court handed down judgment in the case of N v N (Expert Evidence on Gender Affirming Treatment) [2025] EWHC 1325 (Fam) This case involved a child B who was 17 in May 2025.

The forward movement of the family justice system towards embracing greater transparency continues.

Commentary The decision of Strum J on 9th April 2025 is a very welcome indication that the Australian Family Court is moving away from the notion that medical transition of children should be seen as automatically ‘therapeutic treatment’, in a meticulous…

On 19th December 2024, the Court of Appeal agreed in the case of O v P and Q that it was wrong to dismiss proceedings about a child wanting cross sex hormones in the face of parental opposition, once that child was 16.

I was recently contacted by the journalist Beatrix Campbell with a link to an address by the President of the Family Division Sir Andrew McFarlane to the British Society of Paediatric Radiologists.

As evidence of just how ubiquitous the issue of child medical transition has become, we had the benefit of two reported cases very shortly after the publication of the Cass Review final report in April 2024.

Where are we now?