Hayley Trim's Analysis: Re L-W

Court of Appeal non-committal on enforcing contact: Re L-W (Children) [2010] EWCA Civ 1253

When I read this judgment given by Munby LJ a big part of me wanted to say (at the risk of sounding simplistic and old fashioned) whatever happened to children doing as they are told? I know what my mother would say. I recall "like it or lump it" being a phrase I heard often as a child. But another part of me appreciates that it is not always that simple especially in the context of family breakdown. A child's hostility to contact is one of the most difficult situations to deal with particularly once it has become entrenched as it had here.

The 10 year old boy lived with his father and refused to have contact with his mother. His Honour Judge Caddick who had heard the case throughout made compensation and enforcement orders against the father including 200 hours of unpaid work...

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