Mr Justice MacDonald – Last December I referred here to a

onl1nebusiness February 20, 2020February 20, 2020 1,136 Comments

Last December, I referred here to a speech by the President of the Family Division Sir Andrew McFarlane, in whichhe’ spoke of the way in which the family justice system has dealt with the sensitive issue of child abuse over the years, and a little later, I saw a lecture by Professor Jo Delahunty QC in whichshe’ spoke of the past and possible future of the Children’s Act on the occasion of its 30th anniversary. In a speech given on February 1st at the conference on family law in the four jurisdictions in Malaga, Spain, he reflected on the last twenty-five years of family law and looked “through a dark glass to try to see what challenges the next twenty-five years may bring and how we can start thinking about how to face them”. “The four jurisdictions are Scotland, England, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and the significance of the twenty-five years is that it was the 25th anniversary of the conference. “Much talked about research raises the possibility of increasing the capacity to treat childhood cancers and children whose genetic heritage is born to more than two parents, to treat genetic diseases, but also children whose genetic heritage is manipulated at conception to produce traits that a parent considers socially desirable. The past and future of family law: It seems that the time has come to make legal and other considerations about the history of our family law system. That is, which of the decisions made by parents in the legitimate exercise of parental responsibility is in the best interests of the child, taking into account the child’s wishes and feelings, his or her characteristics, physical, emotional and educational needs, risk of harm, the parents’ capacities and the powers of the court. The rest of this part of the speech is interesting, but I will not go into it here because I think what Judge MacDonald has to say about the future and the challenges he faces is of greater interest. “Hopefully, advances in technology and, in particular, the media will continue to challenge historical concepts of privacy. “He wonders if this might, for example, call into question the viability of traditional closed adoptions. “At first glance, disputes between parents over whether to allow their child to add a biotechnological interface to supplement his or her memory capacity or to remove him or her not only from the jurisdiction but also from the planet seem new and exotic. You can read the full speech on the past and future of family law here. If you would like advice on family law, you can find information about our legal services here or contact our client support team to speak to one of our family law attorneys. Judge MacDonald begins by admitting that “any attempt to blink through the mirror leads to results that are necessarily very speculative. “But,” he says, “some things are predictable. Stowe Family Law LLP is authorised and regulated by the Lawyers’ Regulatory Authority. Stowe Family Law LLP is registered with the Registrar of Companies, ref. It no longer practices law, but has earned a reputation as one of the UK’s best-known family law bloggers. John Bolch often wonders how he became a family lawyer. However, he explains that the way in which these stable principles are applied has changed fundamentally, not least because of social, scientific and other changes that have taken place over the last quarter of a century.