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04 June 2015 / Geraldine Morris
Issue: 7655 / Categories: Features , Family
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There may be trouble ahead

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Geraldine Morris looks at the newly elected government’s plans & the potential impact on family law

So, the new government is the old one, but without their former coalition partners the Liberal Democrats. There were many policy aspects of the previous government that caused family lawyers concern, although of course there were some positive aspects too for others. The Conservative party’s second term provides them with an opportunity to follow through on policy developments started in their first term, as well as develop areas of reform they had alluded to previously such as human rights. The following is a summary of some areas of potential change.

Human rights

This is the big one. The government has said that it will seek to repeal the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998) and replace it with a UK Bill of Rights. Tory heavyweight, Michael Gove, has been appointed as Lord Chancellor reportedly as a man on a mission to see this through. Human rights are the lifeblood of family law; a few examples are:

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A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
NLJ this week: Online safety law at a crossroads
Fresh proposals to criminalise ‘nudification’ apps, prioritise cyberflashing and non-consensual intimate images, and even ban under-16s from social media have reignited debate over whether the Online Safety Act 2023 (OSA 2023) is fit for purpose. Writing in NLJ this week, Alexander Brown, head of technology, media and telecommunications, and Alexandra Webster, managing associate, Simmons & Simmons, caution against reactive law-making that could undermine the Act’s ‘risk-based and outcomes-focused’ design
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A Court of Appeal ruling has drawn a firm line under party autonomy in arbitration. Writing in NLJ this week, Masood Ahmed, associate professor at the University of Leicester, analyses Gluck v Endzweig [2026] EWCA Civ 145, where a clause allowing arbitrators to amend an award ‘at any time’ was held incompatible with the Arbitration Act 1996
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