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15 February 2013
Issue: 7548 / Categories: Case law , Law digest , In Court
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Family proceedings

Re G (a child) (sperm donor: contact order); Re Z (a child) (sperm donor: contact order) [2013] EWHC 134 (Fam), [2013] All ER (D) 19 (Feb)

When considering an application by a biological father for leave to apply for an order under s 8 of the Children Act 1989 Act in respect of a child conceived using his sperm by a woman who, at the time of her artificial insemination, was party to a civil partnership, the reforms implemented in ss 42, 45 and 48 of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008, and the policy underpinning those reforms, namely to put lesbian couples and their children in exactly the same legal position as other types of parent and children, were relevant factors to be taken into account by the court, alongside all other relevant considerations, including the factors identified in s 10(9) of the 1989 Act. In some cases, the reforms, and the policy underpinning those reforms, would be decisive. Each case was, however, fact specific. The position of a lesbian couple who had been granted the status of legal parents by the 2008 Act was

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NEWS
Talk of a reserved ‘Welsh seat’ on the Supreme Court is misplaced. In NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC explains that the Constitutional Reform Act treats ‘England and Wales’ as one jurisdiction, with no statutory Welsh slot
The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
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