Paul Walters, Solicitor in Astle Paterson’s Family Department, discusses the options you have should feel that if a Judge was personally against you.
Paul said “In a recently decided Appeal case (Re G (A Child) [2015] EWCA Civ 834) a mother sought to overturn decisions taken by a Circuit Judge on the basis that the Judge’s conduct was unfair to her.
In particular the mother contended that, for example, the Judge had unnecessarily repeatedly interrupted her Barrister, the Judge had used an unsuitable tone towards her Barrister – and despite the Barrister having apologised for being late to Court at the outset of the hearing, the Judge continued to raise this as an issue during the hearing itself. “
Paul concluded “After hearing the mother’s complaints about the original Judge’s conduct toward her and her legal team, the Court of Appeal made it clear that appropriate question to ask was not whether the mother’s legal team had been treated fairly, but rather, whether the mother had been given a fair opportunity to put her case forward. Ultimately, the Court of Appeal found that the Judge’s conduct had meant that the hearing was unfair and set aside the findings made at the previous hearing.
This case underlines the fact that Judges have enormous responsibilities to do justice and to ensure that everyone has a fair hearing – regardless of any personal feelings they may have toward either the parties or their legal representatives.”
At Astle Paterson we have family lawyers (Martin Astle, Paul Walters, Anita Crewdson and Rayhana Kausar) who between them have a wealth of knowledge and experience to assist you.
Please contact Paul Walters, Solicitor in Astle Paterson’s Family Department on 01283 531366 or by way of email to his secretary at hshipley@astlepaterson.co.uk.
