Saturday, 1 September 2007
at
08:51
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Campaigning dads are preparing to step up their protests against the legal system by targeting Bristol judges.Fathers4Justice (F4J), which was relaunched in the city earlier this year, is going back to some of its original tactics in an attempt to change the law.
But the move has been branded "inappropriate and irresponsible" by the judicial office.
Nationally, the group has drawn up a list of judges who, it claims, have treated dads badly during family law cases.
Their names and addresses have been published on the F4J website, www.fathers-4-justice.org, in a list headed "Your Time Is Up: Britain's Worst Judicial Offenders".
Five judges from the Bristol circuit are named on the list: Andrew Rutherford, Paul Robert Barclay, Richard Bromilow, David Keith Ticehurst and Susan Darwall Smith.
The campaign group is planning to target them with direct action during the coming weeks.
F4J's Bristol co-ordinator, Nigel Ace, said: "We will be targeting judges nationwide and are going to be doing a lot more of these kind of stunts to put the wind up them. There are going to be more rooftop protests.
"There has been too much talking, what with everything that's happened since the original group disbanded. We're now going back to our older tactics."
Mr Ace said the judges being targeted were ones who are known to the campaign group through members who have tried to get access to their children in the city.
He said: "We're all for equality - but there's no equality in the family courts.
"You go in and feel like you're a child, but worse, because you're so powerless."
The announcement comes days after the campaign group launched itself in America.
Campaigners dressed as Captain America and Batman climbed on to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC.
Mr Ace hinted that the group could carry out more direct action in Bristol soon.
A Judicial Communications Office spokesperson said: "There is no justification or public interest served in publishing the home addresses or other private details of judges.
"It can serve no purpose other than to intrude into the privacy of the judge and encourage harassment of the judge and his/her family in their home.
"In the case of their court work, family judges have to make difficult decisions based on the individual circumstances of a case.
"By their very nature, these cases are emotional and feelings often run high.
"However, all parties have the opportunity to express their opinion to the judge prior to a decision being made and the right to seek to appeal decisions that they regard as unfair."
But the move has been branded "inappropriate and irresponsible" by the judicial office.
Nationally, the group has drawn up a list of judges who, it claims, have treated dads badly during family law cases.
Their names and addresses have been published on the F4J website, www.fathers-4-justice.org, in a list headed "Your Time Is Up: Britain's Worst Judicial Offenders".
Five judges from the Bristol circuit are named on the list: Andrew Rutherford, Paul Robert Barclay, Richard Bromilow, David Keith Ticehurst and Susan Darwall Smith.
The campaign group is planning to target them with direct action during the coming weeks.
F4J's Bristol co-ordinator, Nigel Ace, said: "We will be targeting judges nationwide and are going to be doing a lot more of these kind of stunts to put the wind up them. There are going to be more rooftop protests.
"There has been too much talking, what with everything that's happened since the original group disbanded. We're now going back to our older tactics."
Mr Ace said the judges being targeted were ones who are known to the campaign group through members who have tried to get access to their children in the city.
He said: "We're all for equality - but there's no equality in the family courts.
"You go in and feel like you're a child, but worse, because you're so powerless."
The announcement comes days after the campaign group launched itself in America.
Campaigners dressed as Captain America and Batman climbed on to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC.
Mr Ace hinted that the group could carry out more direct action in Bristol soon.
A Judicial Communications Office spokesperson said: "There is no justification or public interest served in publishing the home addresses or other private details of judges.
"It can serve no purpose other than to intrude into the privacy of the judge and encourage harassment of the judge and his/her family in their home.
"In the case of their court work, family judges have to make difficult decisions based on the individual circumstances of a case.
"By their very nature, these cases are emotional and feelings often run high.
"However, all parties have the opportunity to express their opinion to the judge prior to a decision being made and the right to seek to appeal decisions that they regard as unfair."
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