Sir James Munby to step down

10 February 2017

Sir James Munby will be retiring next year it was announced today. The president of the Family Courts Division, who turns 70 in 2018, is the most senior family court judge in England and Wales. He caused controversy in 2014, when following the cases, Re B in the Supreme Court and Re B-S in the Court of Appeal, he emphasised that adoption should only be considered where “nothing else will do”. The Re B-S judgement identified poor social work practise and was widely attributed as being the cause of a drop in adoption placement orders. Following the judge’s remarks the Adoption Leadership Board published a “mythbusting” guide about the judgement.

News of Sir James Munby’s retirement was published in the Law Society Gazette.

 

Return to List