Trinity Family and Court of Protection Silk, Nicholas Stonor Q.C. will be speaking at a two day International Research Conference on Family Justice - "Achieving Justice for Children and Their Families", to be held at Northumbria University, Newcastle Upon Tyne over the course of 8th and 9th October 2016.
The conference will attract up to 400 academics, barristers, solicitors and practitioners from the fields of law, social work, health and mental health sectors to examine the latest research and policy decisions which are impacting on cases relating to family justice.
The conference will focus on issues surrounding advocacy and the reality of legal representation for parents and children; how practitioners can adopt relationship-based approaches to working with families; the possibilities and constraints arising from research into family justice; and commonalities and differences across international jurisdictions.
Professor Kim Holt, Professor of Social Justice and Family Law, Health and Life Sciences and Head of the Department of Social Work and Communities at Northumbria University, is organising the conference and explained that:
“The conference is an opportunity to bring together academics from a range of jurisdictions to debate the challenges of ensuring children and their families have their rights protected when they turn to a system in times of crisis and when they are most in need. The conference will provide an opportunity for a range of practitioners and academics to share opportunities for good practice and innovation with a range of workshops, papers and poster presentations during the course of the two days.”
Professor Kim Holt, will also chair the conference which will cover a diverse range of topics including:
- Advocacy and Capacity: the rhetoric and reality of representation for parents and children;
- Relationship-based approaches to working with families;
- Research in Family Justice: possibilities and constraints;
- Innovation and Empowering Interventions;
- Comparative Approaches to Family Justice: commonalities and differences from International Jurisdictions.
Nicholas Stonor Q.C.'s session is entitled "Family Justice at the (Reformed) Coalface: Making it Work"
Other keynote speakers will include:
- Rt. Hon. Sir James Munby, President of the Family Division and Head of Family Justice;
- Professor Brid Featherstone, Professor of Social Work, University of Huddersfield;
- Professor Judith Masson, Professor of Socio-Legal Studies, University of Bristol;
- Professor Kathryn Abel, Professor of Psychological Medicine, University of Manchester;
- Professor Karen Broadhurst, Professor of Social Work, Lancaster University.