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Access to Court Transcripts

Volume 585: debated on Tuesday 9 September 2014

The Petition of Andy Flynn,

Declares that the Petitioner is a father living in England; further that the Petitioner instigated family law proceedings; further that on 27 February 2013 the Petitioner was ordered by the court to serve a medical report to disprove false allegations about his own mental health made by his ex-wife in an attempt to mitigate her actions; further that the Petitioner believes that on 20 June 2013 his estranged wife’s barrister Miss Fox misrepresented to the court the contents of a medical report; further that the Petitioner believes that Miss Fox falsely stated that his medical report contained information that he was treated with a medication called risperidone for a psychiatric condition and misrepresented to the court the contents of a medical report; further that the Petitioner believes that as a consequence of the statement by Miss Fox he was prevented from having contact with his children and at the final hearing was not permitted to make his own case; further that the Petitioner requested a copy of the transcript of the hearing of 20 June 2013 in order to prove that the barrister had misrepresented his situation but this request was refused by HHJ Cardinal via court correspondence of 3 February 2014 indicating that the other party needed to be able to oppose the provision of a transcript; further that the Petitioner provided a copy of his GP’s report dated 13 September 2013 which stated that the investigating medical practitioner

“felt, following his own assessment that as Mr Flynn did not complain of any symptoms or display [any] signs of mental illness that a referral on the NHS [for mental health assessment] was not appropriate”

and that is why the Petitioner was not referred for psychiatric evaluation; and further that during the final hearing on 17 October 2013 HHJ Cardinal refused the Petitioner permission to present evidence to the court to support his case.

The Petitioner therefore requests that the House of Commons Justice Select Committee investigates the way in which the courts refuse litigants access to the evidence which would allow them to prove malpractice in the courts; further requests that the Justice Select Committee proposes legislative changes in order to stop this from happening in the future; and further requests that the Justice Select Committee reviews the manner in which the family courts selectively refuse to allow evidence to be presented thereby undermining justice.

And the Petitioner remains, etc.—[Presented by John Hemming.]

[P001387]