Madeleine Southey summarises a judgment for Family Law Week about an appeal against a finding of rape. The finding, which had been made following a fact-finding hearing in Children Act 1989 proceedings 3 years previously, was overturned by Mr Justice Hayden.
Background to the appeal
The father had lodged grounds of appeal in May 2022 after a 5-day fact-finding hearing in March 2022.
The judge noted that the 'extraordinary delay' was largely the responsibility of 'the appeals system in the Royal Courts of Justice', exacerbated by difficulties in obtaining an approved transcript.
The 1st 4 grounds of appeal, which were dismissed by the judge as unarguable in March 2025, concerned complaints that the recorder had displayed bias against the father and procedural unfairness.
The appeal was allowed to proceed on the 5th ground: that the recorder had failed to give sufficiently cogent reasons to support her finding that the father raped the mother.
Judgment in the appeal
In his judgment, Mr Justice Hayden:
- summarises the legal principles applicable to an appeal against a trial judge's finding of fact
- comments on a lack of constructive case management and absence of judicial continuity and the impact on child protection
- deals briefly with the interplay between criminal and family legal concepts.
View the summary of the judgment in Re A (Appeal: Findings of Fact) [2025] EWHC 1279 (Fam) on Family Law Week.