Advice - well within the bounds of reasonable parenting.

by **PeterMac** 28.05.11 15:37

p. 124 "So on the afternoon of friday 11 May, the paralegal, accompanied by a barrister, flew out to Portugal... After examining the proximity of the Tapas restaurant to apartment 5A, the barrister first of all assured us that our behaviour could not be deemed negligent and was indeed 'well within the bounds of reashoonable parenting'.
So it was a barrister, albeit one allegedly from the International Family Law Group.

to continue "The lawyers then talked to us about applying for an order to make Madeleine a ward of court."

On 2 April 2008 Madeleine became a Ward of this Court, and since that date has remained a Ward. At all times jurisdiction was assumed by the Court because, there being no evidence to the contrary, it is presumed Madeleine is alive. She is a British Citizen, and like her parents habitually resident here. The current application was made on 2 April 2008 by the parents seeking disclosure of information and documents from the Chief Constable of Leicestershire to assist them and their own investigations in their search for Madeleine.
So although they had applied for help from the Court as early as May 2007, she became Ward of Court only at the point when they wanted some documents from the Leicester Police.

by lj 28.05.11 16:31

I believe that family law group is the one they called that same night.

You know more about the law than I do, PeterMac, I assume that such an strong statement should have a proof within the law. Any idea if in the British law this neglect resulting in at least serious psychological and or physical damage, maybe even death, is considered "reasonable"? That aside, I hope the barrister made it clear to the doctors that reasonable in one country does not mean reasonable, less responsible, in another. After all there are enough countries where it is considered reasonable to beat your wife.

We know it is considered illegal in Portugal, that has jurisdiction.

BTW isn't it funny how Gerry it almost immediately upgrades from reasonable to responsible??

by **PeterMac** 28.05.11 22:56

When a Barrister tells you something like that, it may mean nothing more than "If you are ever prosecuted, I can get you off."

by lj 29.05.11 0:02

That would be £££££ovely.

by LittleMissMolly 29.05.11 0:08

PeterMac wrote:p. 124 "So on the afternoon of friday 11 May, the paralegal, accompanied by a barrister, flew out to Portugal... After examining the proximity of the Tapas restaurant to apartment 5A, the barrister first of all assured us that our behaviour could not be deemed negligent and was indeed 'well within the bounds of reashoonable parenting'.
So it was a barrister, albeit one allegedly from the International Family Law Group.

to continue "The lawyers then talked to us about applying for an order to make Madeleine a ward of court."

On 2 April 2008 Madeleine became a Ward of this Court, and since that date has remained a Ward. At all times jurisdiction was assumed by the Court because, there being no evidence to the contrary, it is presumed Madeleine is alive. She is a British Citizen, and like her parents habitually resident here. The current application was made on 2 April 2008 by the parents seeking disclosure of information and documents from the Chief Constable of Leicestershire to assist them and their own investigations in their search for Madeleine.
So although they had applied for help from the Court as early as May 2007, she became Ward of Court only at the point when they wanted some documents from the Leicester Police.

Thanks for that PeterMac - I've always wondered why they had Madeleine made a ward of court ... it just seemed to be an odd thing to do. Now I get it thumbsup

by Miraflores 19.07.11 18:25

So although they had applied for help from the Court as early as May
2007, she became Ward of Court only at the point when they wanted some
documents from the Leicester Police.

Sorry, coming to this thread a bit late. Why would making Madeleine a Ward of Court enable the McCanns to get documents from Leicester Police? [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

by Newintown 19.07.11 19:32

Hello Miraflores

I'm new to this blog so please be gentle with me!

I've always wondered that myself, but it could be more McCann/Mitchell spin to cover the fact that as I always thought a "Ward of Court" meant the responsibility of the child was taken away from the parents if that child was in some sort of danger or had been neglected. Therefore if Madeleine was to turn up that she would not be given back to her parents immediately without some sort of Court case/Social Services investigation to measure whether the parents were fit to have the child returned to them.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]Ward of Court - An order by a court in England and Wales that means that all decisions regarding a child's upbringing must be approved by the court.

The fact that the McCanns were asking for papers from the Leicestershire Police at the same time was probably to cover over the true meaning of "Ward of Court" and divert attention away from the real issue.

Whatever the McCanns or Mitchell say, I always believe the opposite is true. All they've ever done for the past 4 years is twist facts to make themselves look whiter than white. roll

by ROSA 19.07.11 21:30

lj wrote:That would be £££££ovely.

:lol:

by Guest 22.07.11 18:03

I wonder if the UK authorities would be legally able to take any action against a family who had done something in another country? Maybe what the barrister really said was that they couldn't touch the McCann's? I can't imagine the Portugese authorities doing much under the circumstances particularly when it relies on the tourist trade.

I think that the Ward of Court application was so they could find out what evidence they actually had against them. They were getting nothing from Portugal & probably thought getting it from the UK would be no problem.