Dr Charlotte Proudman successfully represents mother on appeal in Re GB (Part 25 Application: Parental Alienation) [2023] EWFC 150
Re GB (Part 25 Application: Parental Alienation) [2023] EWFC 150
Instructed on a direct access basis on behalf of a mother in private law children proceedings, Dr Charlotte Proudman successfully argued that it is not the role of a psychologist to ascertain whether a child is being alienated by one parent against another. She argued that it is a question of fact for the court to determine.
As per the Judgment:
8. The Appellant’s grounds of appeal assert that:
(i) The Judge was wrong to order a psychological assessment, which invites the expert to determine the factual matrix of disputed allegations, contrary to the President’s decision in Re C (Parental Alienation: Instruction of Expert) [2023] EWHC 345 (Fam);
(ii) The Judge was wrong to order a psychological assessment of the parents and the children without considering the test of necessity under Part 25 of the Family Procedure Rules 2010; and
(iii) The judge failed to give any reasons for ordering a psychological assessment
[…]
16. The mother asserts in her first ground of appeal that the Judge was wrong to order a psychological assessment, which invites the expert to determine the factual matrix of disputed allegations. It is important to note that in the parallel proceedings under the Family Law Act 1996, a Recorder made findings on disputed facts but was not invited to make any factual determination in respect of the father’s later assertions in these Children Act proceedings of parental alienation.
17. In Re C (Parental Alienation: Instruction of Expert) [2023] EWHC 345 (Fam) at paragraph 103, the President of the Family Division made the following observations following submissions from the Association of Clinical Psychologists-UK (“ACP”):
“Before leaving this part of the appeal, one particular paragraph in the ACP skeleton argument deserves to be widely understood and, I would strongly urge, accepted:
‘Much like an allegation of domestic abuse; the decision about whether or not a parent has alienated a child is a question of fact for the Court to resolve and not a diagnosis that can or should be offered by a psychologist. For these purposes, the ACP-UK wishes to emphasise that “parental alienation” is not a syndrome capable of being diagnosed, but a process of manipulation of children perpetrated by one parent against the other through, what are termed as, “alienating behaviours”. It is, fundamentally, a question of fact.’
…Most Family judges have, for some time, regarded the label of ‘parental alienation’, and the suggestion that there may be a diagnosable syndrome of that name, as being unhelpful. What is important, as with domestic abuse, is the particular behaviour that is found to have taken place within the individual family before the court, and the impact that that behaviour may have had on the relationship of a child with either or both of his/her parents. In this regard, the identification of ‘alienating behaviour’ should be the court’s focus, rather than any quest to determine whether the label ‘parental alienation’ can be applied.”
The father was “considered to have limited insight into his ability to think reflectively and empathetically about his children” and it was suggested he might use “coercive anger to manage his feelings about relationships”, according to Middleton-Roy’s judgment. However, the designated children’s guardian put in an application for new expert evidence after the father claimed the mother had alienated their children from him. Middleton-Roy wrote in his judgment, “The expert was being invited to provide an opinion about parental alienation. In the judgment of this court, that is outside the expert’s remit.””
Read the judgment here.
Read the guardian article here: UK mother accused of alienating children from father wins appeal over psychological assessment Senior judge overturns previous ruling, saying matter is for the court to decide amid concern over use of unregulated psychologists by Hannah Summers, 9/9/2023.
Related barristers: Dr Charlotte Proudman
Related practice areas: Family
