The Rights Of Man

THE ANTI-MALE JUSTICE SYSTEM - DENNIS NORTH HAD TO APPEAL AGAINST PAYING EX-WIFE £200,0000 AFTER 30 YEARS OF DIVORCE

The case in June of Dennis North,a builder being ordered to pay more money (£200,000) to the woman he divorced nearly 30 years ago after a judge heard she had "fallen on hard times" was beyond madness and certainly anti-male.

Mr North successfully appealed against the judgement.

As quoted from the Daily Telegraph (link) at the time, "Mr North, 70, was divorced from his first wife Jean, 61, in 1978 - a year after finding out she was having an affair with the man she later went to live with. In 1981 he made a financial settlement with the woman he married in 1964, buying her a house and investments." It was also covered elsewhere including a debate on the Daily Mail site (link) and The Times (link).

Mrs North, who now lives in Leeds, was awarded the £202,000 by a district judge last year. The ruling was later upheld in the High Court.

Mr North then had to appeal and Lord Justice Thorpe, sitting with Lord Justice May and Mr Justice Bennett, ruled that the award was “fundamentally flawed”. The story was covered in The Times (link) and The Telegraph (link) . The Appeal Judges ruled that District Judge Peter Greene who awarded her the lump sum had an approach which was “fundamentally flawed” and the appeal should be allowed.

The issue is that the judgement made by this District Judge Peter Greene was so wrong and unfair that it is clear he is not fit to be a judge. Why did Mr North have to spend time and money appealing the case? Any costs should be paid personally by the District Judge.

Can you imagine a court awarding such a figure to a man whose ex-wife then went on to make a fortune? Of course not.

THE FEMINIST BATTLING FOR MEN'S RIGHTS - KAREN RICHARDSON

As quoted from the Guardian in May "Karen Richarsdson who runs the small but visionary Centre for Separated Families in York - which is why this feminist single mother now finds herself campaigning to end discrimination against men."

If you missed this excellent interview please read it here (link).

EQUAL RIGHTS CHARITY, PARITY, REVAMP WEB-SITE

Britain's only genuinely equal rights campaigning group, Parity, have revamped their web-site (link). It is first rate.

PARITY have been a trailblazing organisation fighting for equality. PARITY was first formed in 1986 as the Campaign for Equal State Pension Ages, a wholly voluntary organisation concerned with the equal rights of men and women. 

It has led where other supposedly equal rights groups like the now defunct Equal Opportunities Commission and other feminist organisations have hid away because they did not want to support genuine equality. They only support women's causes and nothing will change under the new Commission for Equality and Human Rights.

Through litigation in the courts applying European Union or European Convention law binding (by statute or treaty) in the UK, PARITY has instigated cases resulting in:

• equal qualifying ages for men and women - for exemption from NHS prescription charges (1995), for winter fuel payments (2000), and for local bus travel concessions (2003), and
• equal treatment for widowers and widows in survivors social security benefits and bereavement tax allowances (2000).

Their new web-site also includes sections on men's health, boy's education, sex discrimination, equal parenting and also male victims of domestic abuse.

BRUCE HYMAN CONVICTION IS A SALUTARY TALE FOR FATHERS

The sad tale of Bruce Hyman's conviction, in 800 years he is the first ever barrister to have been jailed for perverting the course of justice , is a salutary tale for all UK fathers.

Firstly and already covered here (link) it shows that fathers are the whipping boys and that family law and family courts are so accustomed to ruling against fathers, it was probably seen as a formality that he could get away with his crime.

His crime was to send a father an e-mail purporting to be from Families Need Fathers with information that could have helped his custody battle. When the father used it , Hyman then in court claimed the e-mail was false. The father proved Hyman had set him up, however, if it was not for the father's resourcefulness, then he would have been the one facing jail.

The story is well covered in the Telegraph (link), Mail on Sunday (link), The Times (Link) and The Guardian (link).

The other salutary tale surrounds the all too common victimhood claimed by friends of those who break the law. There was an outpouring of sympathy for Bruce Hyman from the great and the good, including actress Maureen Lipman.

No outpouring though about the sympathy needed for the father (and his children) who would have gone to prison if he hadn't proved he had been framed, and no doubt, for far longer than a year in these anti-male, all-fathers-are-bad- especially-if-they-want-access-to-their-children times. That is where the sympathy needs to be.

Families Need Fathers in their excellent style produced a release (link) on this story and the view from John Baker, their Chairman is 

"FNF is pleased to have played a part in ensuring that this case was fully investigated and one hopes that sharp practice of this order is exceptional. However, the English family courts are secret and in the normal course their proceedings are subject only to the limited scrutiny of the Court of Appeal. Much goes on in family courts that would be unacceptable if more widely known.”

BRUCE HYMAN STORY SHOWS HOW FATHERS ARE THE WHIPPING BOYS

The story of barrister Bruce Hyman and how he is facing jail for perverting the course of justice after trying to effectively 'frame' a father fighting to get access to his children is a sad tale. 

He sent the father an e-mail using the Familes Need Fathers logo which the unwitting father then used to aid his case for custody. Buce Hyman was acting for the mother. The full story is here (link).

No-one quite knows what the motive was. However, what it does say is culturally in the UK, fathers are easy targets. I suspect Hyman set the father up because he thought that no-one would believe the father and therefore could get away it.

He was right except it was because of the father and his investigation that it transpired that it was Hyman who had sent him the e-mail.

It just confirms that fathers are whipping boys.

LATEST NATIONAL SOCIETY FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILY CONTACT

As ever, a thought provoking article from the NSCFC (link) on parental responsibility and the denial of fathers' ability to receive adequate advice and support from the state.

Read it here  (link)

CSA DROP NAME AND SHAME

On 26th June 2007, the CSA published its first list of people (all men) who they had taken to court for information offences (link) and was covered here (link).

A story in The Metro this week said that "The controversial plan...has been shelved after just four weeks - because of a lack of interest. Visits to the web-site...waned after quickly after an initial peak. James Plaskitt MP said 'in light of this we will not publish further names'."

There is no link to the story on the web but Familes Need Fathers (link) issued a press release:-

The Child Support Agency (CSA) acknowledges the ineffectiveness of the proposed naming and shaming policy. Families Need Fathers (FNF) are relieved that this draconian measure has been recognized as unsuitable.

Controversial government plans to ‘name and shame’ fathers who have failed to pay maintenance have been suspended after it’s lack of success. The website detailing ‘deadbeat dads’ has met with significant criticism as an ineffectual scheme which would have little benefit for anyone involved, least of all the child.

John Baker, FNF Chair, said of the decision, “We welcome this move, and hope that it indicates a more pragmatic approach to the issue of CSA maintenance and new leadership. We feel that less confrontational means are likely to produce better results.”

“For a body whose purpose is essentially to protect the child, it is hard to see how public humiliation of one of its parents could possibly be appropriate,” he added.

This is another defeat for the feminist fundamentalists who wanted to conduct a witch hunt in their quest to turn society into men-haters. The British public are not into state 'naming and shaming' especially when the state organisation is as incompetent as the CSA.

AWARD FOR AMERICAN EQUAL PARENTING CAMPAIGNER

In May, the following post (link) reported that Robert Pedersen and Rob Mackenzie from the USA will start a bicycle trek covering over 600 miles from Lansing, Michigan to Washington, D.C. 

The site Daddy Blogger (link) reports that Mr Pedersen was Runner-Up award in Best Life Magazine's Hero Dad Contest for his campaigning efforts for Equal Parenting. Great News.

THE RISE AND FALL OF THE UK FAMILY LAW SYSTEM by BRIAN HITCHCOCK

The high point in UK Family Law was the creation of the Children Act 1989 but many Family Court judges since then have denied meaningful contact to non-resident parents for no good reason.

The Family Courts have become a bearpit where false allegations abound. It is about time that the entire Family Court system was opened to vigorous inspection.

Children of 8 years and above should be given the right to talk to the judge in their case as quite often their ascertainable wishes as regards contact with their non-resident parent are lost in the proceedings due to poor reporting by CAFCASS officers, social workers and other professionals.

Family Court judges have minimal training in Family Law matters. All Family Courts should allow lay people onto their business committees to allow for proper representation of consumers of Family Courts views.

There should also be a mechanism for Public Inquiries into Family Law cases where grave miscarriages of justice are alleged. The Family Law Society has been campaigning for the last three years for a Royal Commission to examine the operation of the Family Law system in the UK.

Editors Note : The Family Law Society can be found here (link)

MICHAEL COX FREED ON BAIL : ROUND-UP

Michael Cox, the lawyer who was jailed for 42 days for refusing to pay maintenance when he looked after his children 50% of the time (link), was freed from prison on 6th July on unconditional bail pending a judicial review hearing (link),(link) and (link). 

After Mr Justice Gray granted him bail at Bristol Crown Court, Michael said that it was “a victory for common sense and equality”. 

  Michael (left) believes the case will have to go to the European Courts to turn over the unjust and discriminatory laws that govern the CSA.

The lengths that feminist fundamentalists will go to persecute men was shown up in all its 'glory' by the decision. The CSA have said they will not give up their fight so it looks a 'battle to the death' for the fundamentalists who are not used to being challenged.

There was a superb piece in the Telegraph featuring his children whilst he was in prison (link).

Fathers4Justice launched a Free Michael Cox campaign (link). Also see Michael Cox's excellent GMTV interview and others via YouTube here:- (link)