Home » Practice guidance » A barrister’s tips for giving evidence in the family court

A barrister’s tips for giving evidence in the family court

Author: Jonathan Bott, barrister, 43 Temple Row Chambers

Publication Date: 30 November 2016

Description_of_image_used_in_child_sexual_exploitation_case_law_summaries_scales-of-justice-Fotolia_52956667_S-Corgarashu

Photo: Corgarashu/Fotolia

Introduction

These tips have been suggested by Jonathan Bott, a family law barrister who represents local authorities, children and parents. They are designed to help social workers better understand how advocates approach cases, and how to deal with the challenges of cross-examination. This practice guide helps you meet point 8 of the Knowledge and skills statement for […]

You need to log in to Community Care Inform to view this content. If you have a subscription, please log in here.

Please contact the Community Care Inform helpdesk or phone 020 3915 9444 if you require support or assistance or are unsure if you have a subscription.

If you don’t currently have access, click here to find out more about subscribing to Community Care Inform.

Add item to CPD log

Title * A barrister's tips for giving evidence in the family court

Date * 19-02-2020 (dd-mm-yyyy)

URL https://www.ccinform.co.uk/practice-guidance/a-barristers-tips-for-social-workers-giving-evidence-to-family-court-hearings/

Learning Use the boxes below to record what you have learned from this activity. The form below replicates that used by Social Work England on your online account, so that when you have to renew your registration you can include this as evidence of your continuing professional development. Everything you write will be stored in your Inform account from which you can copy the information into your Social Work England account, export all the information as a Word file or print it off.

1. What was your job role? Briefly provide the context of your role when you did the CPD?

2. What did you do? Provide more information to explain the title of the CPD, for example, what you did and/or what happened.

3. Critical reflection - explain the impact that the CPD had on the quality of your practice.

4. Which of Social Work England's eight CPD standards do you believe your learning demonstrates?
The eight standards are:

Incorporate feedback from a range of sources, including from people with lived experience of my social work practice.
Use supervision and feedback to critically reflect on, and identify my learning needs, including how I use research and evidence to inform my practice.
Keep my practice up to date and record how I use research, theories and frameworks to inform my practice and my professional judgement.
Demonstrate good subject knowledge on key aspects of social work practice and develop knowledge of current issues in society and social policies impacting on social work.
Contribute to an open and creative learning culture in the workplace to discuss, reflect on and share best practice.
Reflect on my learning activities and evidence what impact continuing professional development has on the quality of my practice.
Record my learning and reflection on a regular basis and in accordance with Social Work England's guidance on continuing professional development.
Reflect on my own values and challenge the impact they have on my practice.

For more information, see Social Work England's guidance on CPD.

Add item to PRTL log

Title * A barrister's tips for giving evidence in the family court

Date * 19-02-2020 (dd-mm-yyyy)

URL https://www.ccinform.co.uk/practice-guidance/a-barristers-tips-for-social-workers-giving-evidence-to-family-court-hearings/

Learning Use the boxes below to record what you have learned from this activity. Everything you write will be stored in your Inform account and you can export all the information as a Word file or print it off. When you have to renew your social work registration with Social Care Wales, you can include this as evidence of post-registration training and learning.

1. What have you learned from this activity?

2. How has it contributed to your practice?

3. How much time have you spent on this activity?

4. Next steps (any additional learning you need in this area)?

For more details, visit Social Care Wales

Citation

Full Harvard reference for this document:

() A barrister's tips for giving evidence in the family court. Practice Guidance.
Community Care Inform
[online]
https://www.ccinform.co.uk/practice-guidance/a-barristers-tips-for-social-workers-giving-evidence-to-family-court-hearings/
[accessed: 19 February 2020]

If you are directly quoting the author's own words from this document you must acknowledge that they are not your own words by putting them within quotes marks, reference the source in the text and then provide the full reference at the end of the document. For example:

In the text: Brackenbridge argues that "[t]he interpersonal dynamics of sexual abuse in sport are similar to those in other settings but exacerbated by some key situational differences" (Brackenbridge, 2008).

Full reference to insert at the bottom of the document: Brackenbridge, C. (2008) Child Protection in Sport. Guide. Community Care Inform Children [online]. Available at: https://www.ccinform.co.uk/articles/2008/02/22/1973/Child+protection+in+sport.html [accessed: INSERT DATE HERE (eg 25 November 2015)]