Uploaded September 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
BOOK REVIEW
HERSHMAN & McFARLANE
CHILDREN ACT HANDBOOK 2022/23
By David Hershman and Andrew McFarlane
ISBN 978 1 52652 473 7
BLOOMSBURY PROFESSIONAL FAMILY LAW
bloomsburyprofessionallaw.com
A FUNDAMENTAL PURCHASE FOR THOSE INVOLVED IN ALL ASPECTS OF MODERN CHILDREN LAW
An appreciation by Elizabeth Robson Taylor MA of Richmond Green Chambers and Phillip Taylor MBE, Head of Chambers, Reviews Editor, “The Barrister”, and Mediator
This excellent book on the Children Act remains invaluable to all child law practitioners, judges, and social workers. When it first appeared in the 1990s as “Children Law and Practice”, the drawback was the layout of the text which required both the commentary and the statutory material to be taken to court.
David Hershman and Andrew McFarlane decided in 2001 to create this “modestly sized handbook… in order to ease the physical burden on users by providing core statutory material in a portable supplement”. The editors and publishers, Bloomsbury Professional, have done just that.
The Handbook is a useful addition to your family law library. We have found that the editors have made a useful selection of resources which are both sufficient to meet the needs of portability with the provision of essential core material as a yearly update. The “Notes” are of relevance for us both in court and in conference because they keep us as up to date as possible with the changing nature of the jurisdiction. Indeed, the publishers, Bloomsbury Professional Family Law make our lives much easier with these titles as “the law” and “the processes” continue to become more detailed and complex.
The work is updated and issued in this edition as part of the subscription package to all of Bloomsbury’s “Children Law and Practice” available online to subscribers, and sold separately to non-subscribers. It contains consolidated and fully amended texts of the Children Act 1989 and relevant provisions of the Family Procedure Rules 2010 and supplementary Practice Directions.
And, for practitioners, the Handbook “meets the need for a reliable, up-to-date, portable source of key children proceedings' legislation and related guidance”. In fact, just what you will need for your practice concerning children matters.
The Handbook is separated into four parts: Statutes; Statutory Instruments; Practice Guidance and finally a Miscellaneous section for calendars at the back. There is a shaded area opposite the spine side of the book to make it easy to find the parts. It runs to just under 1,000 pages as a paperback, and fortunately, the paper if of a durable quality, like the book itself. And relief upon relief, there are no cases which makes life simpler and allows us to concentrate on the notes and amendments to the legislation and guidance.
We particularly liked the inclusion of the “President’s Guidance” of 5th May 2022 covering fact finding and domestic abuse in private law children proceedings issued by Sir Andrew McFarlane which must be required reading before the fact find begins to ensure that it is really necessary to hold one when much time and anguish can be avoided in some situations.
The date of publication of this new paperback edition for 2022/23 from Bloomsbury Professional Family Law is cited as 11th April 2022.
BOOK REVIEW
HERSHMAN & McFARLANE
CHILDREN ACT HANDBOOK 2022/23
By David Hershman and Andrew McFarlane
ISBN 978 1 52652 473 7
BLOOMSBURY PROFESSIONAL FAMILY LAW
bloomsburyprofessionallaw.com
A FUNDAMENTAL PURCHASE FOR THOSE INVOLVED IN ALL ASPECTS OF MODERN CHILDREN LAW
An appreciation by Elizabeth Robson Taylor MA of Richmond Green Chambers and Phillip Taylor MBE, Head of Chambers, Reviews Editor, “The Barrister”, and Mediator
This excellent book on the Children Act remains invaluable to all child law practitioners, judges, and social workers. When it first appeared in the 1990s as “Children Law and Practice”, the drawback was the layout of the text which required both the commentary and the statutory material to be taken to court.
David Hershman and Andrew McFarlane decided in 2001 to create this “modestly sized handbook… in order to ease the physical burden on users by providing core statutory material in a portable supplement”. The editors and publishers, Bloomsbury Professional, have done just that.
The Handbook is a useful addition to your family law library. We have found that the editors have made a useful selection of resources which are both sufficient to meet the needs of portability with the provision of essential core material as a yearly update. The “Notes” are of relevance for us both in court and in conference because they keep us as up to date as possible with the changing nature of the jurisdiction. Indeed, the publishers, Bloomsbury Professional Family Law make our lives much easier with these titles as “the law” and “the processes” continue to become more detailed and complex.
The work is updated and issued in this edition as part of the subscription package to all of Bloomsbury’s “Children Law and Practice” available online to subscribers, and sold separately to non-subscribers. It contains consolidated and fully amended texts of the Children Act 1989 and relevant provisions of the Family Procedure Rules 2010 and supplementary Practice Directions.
And, for practitioners, the Handbook “meets the need for a reliable, up-to-date, portable source of key children proceedings' legislation and related guidance”. In fact, just what you will need for your practice concerning children matters.
The Handbook is separated into four parts: Statutes; Statutory Instruments; Practice Guidance and finally a Miscellaneous section for calendars at the back. There is a shaded area opposite the spine side of the book to make it easy to find the parts. It runs to just under 1,000 pages as a paperback, and fortunately, the paper if of a durable quality, like the book itself. And relief upon relief, there are no cases which makes life simpler and allows us to concentrate on the notes and amendments to the legislation and guidance.
We particularly liked the inclusion of the “President’s Guidance” of 5th May 2022 covering fact finding and domestic abuse in private law children proceedings issued by Sir Andrew McFarlane which must be required reading before the fact find begins to ensure that it is really necessary to hold one when much time and anguish can be avoided in some situations.
The date of publication of this new paperback edition for 2022/23 from Bloomsbury Professional Family Law is cited as 11th April 2022.
