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Overview
Fiona Farquhar practises in child law. She is also a qualified mediator.
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Child Law Public
Fiona is an experienced family practitioner specialising in children law. She practises in public and private law work acting for local authorities, parents, guardians, children and members of the extended family.
Fiona has experience of and regularly deals with:
Public Law Children:
- Non-accidental injuries; fractures, bruising, head injuries
- Fictitious illness
- Sexual abuse
- Neglect
- Parents with serious mental illness
- Parents with learning difficulties, including cases where the Official Solicitor is instructed
- Representation of children; including teenagers separately represented from the Guardian and children in secure accommodation applications
- PII applications.
Private Law Children:
- Complex fact-finding cases involving allegations of sexual abuse of children, domestic violence, sexual abuse and rape allegations
- Removal from the jurisdiction
- Residence, Contact, Specific Issue and Prohibited Steps
- Enforcement proceedings
- Family Law Act 1996 Applications.
High Court Cases of particular interest:
- Re: YY – A case where there were found to be serious failings by the Local Authority and issues in relation to end of life consent.
- Re: J – Care proceedings involving the abduction of the child from care.
- Re: W – Representing the parents in a Secure Accommodation application. Significant concerns regarding child’s self-harming and attempted suicide.
- Re: P – Representation of the Guardian in an application involving serious sexual abuse allegations against member of the extended family. An application was made to withhold disclosure of case papers from Father and to prohibit him from attending Court hearings.
- County Court Cases of particular interest:
- Re: C – Case involving serious non-accidental injuries to a five-week old baby
- Re: NSC v T, D – Public law case involving significant injuries to a seven-week old baby. Head injuries and serious skeletal injuries. The significant feature in the case was an argument of dereliction of duty by the local authority in placing the child under the protection of the father who suffered from learning difficulties.
- Re: B – Case involving serious non-accidental injury to a three-month old baby. Dispute between medical experts as to causation.
- Re: R – Mother’s allegations of physical abuse of child by Father not evidenced. Expert evidence questions significant emotional abuse by Mother and significant personality disorder of the Mother, including fictitious illness syndrome.
- Re: H – Representing the Guardian in a Secure Accommodation application. Significant concerns regarding child’s self-harming and attempted suicide.
