Allegations & Evidence From Children in Care Proceedings - Good Practice Explored

Introduction

In many care cases, the issue of allegations made by children can be the gravamen of the case with many parents and/or other individuals in the home accused of serious sexual, physical and emotional abuse of children. In order to effectively present the evidence in such a case and/or to challenge the allegations, the quality of the evidence and being able to implement best practice/criticise the lack of good practice can be the difference between findings being secured or allegations being dismissed.

This virtual classroom seminar is designed to assist lawyers in understanding good practice surrounding allegations made by children, including how to achieve the best quality evidence and how to criticise poor gathering of evidence which may ultimately mean that the evidence cannot be relied upon.

What You Will Learn

This live and interactive session will cover the following:

• Best practice in gathering evidence from children - an overview of the Orkney (1988) and Cleveland Reports (1992) and what lessons can be learned
• The ABE process and what can be taken from this
• An overview of the caselaw surrounding taking/relying on allegations made by children and when the evidence may be so unreliable to mean that allegations cannot be proven in the Family Courts
• The local authority’s responsibilities and duties when it comes to working with children who are making/have made allegations
• Common mistakes made during the evidence gathering process and how this may lead to difficulties in proving allegations

Recording of live sessions: Soon after the Learn Live session has taken place you will be able to go back and access the recording - should you wish to revisit the material discussed.