The European Court of Human Rights has recently given its decision in a case brought by a father who claimed that court proceedings concerning the return of his child lasted so long they were a breach of his rights under Art 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (right to respect for private and family life).
A High Court judge has ruled that a one-year-old girl should live with her father and his male partner instead of her mother, reports the BBC.
Figures released recently by the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) and charity Reunite have revealed that the number of parental child abduction and custody cases has more than doubled over the past ten years, with almost two children being abducted abroad each day.
The Office for National Statistics has released a bulletin giving annual statistics on adoptions which took place following court orders in England and Wales in 2012. Figures on adoption orders apply to adoptions by relatives and step-parents as well as adoptions from care.
The Local Government Ombudsman has found that Liverpool City Council has been failing to pay around 340 foster carers the correct amount of allowances for a number of years.
A recent report from the House of Lords Committee on Adoption Legislation has said that adoptive parents should receive more support to help them care for vulnerable children.
Barnardo's has issued a statement welcoming the announcement that the Government is to consult over changes to fostering and adoption procedures.
We live in an increasingly globalised and fast-paced society. It is more common than ever for us to move overseas to work, and marriages between partners of different nationalities are on the increase. This creates obvious problems where children are concerned. While me may hope that our moves abroad, and our marriages, are permanent, often our work situation changes or our relationships break down. In these types of situation, children can become the subject of custody disputes of a transnational (or perhaps even just trans-regional) character. One partner may wish to return to their native land (or indeed remain in an adopted homeland) when a relationship breaks down.
The Chair of the Justice Select Committee, the Rt Hon Sir Alan Beith MP, has written to the Prime Minister in relation to the Government’s proposals to change the Children Act 1989 in an attempt to promote shared parenting.