Dear Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service,

There now appears to be a systemic malfunction and conflict between CAFCASS obligations under GDPR vs Family Law.

Family Law Rules say that ‘All parties in proceedings receive copies of witness statements”.

CAFCASS FCA Jodie Rees having now acted in a role only afforded to the Judiciary gathered witness statements but did not supply them to all parties.

Ms Rees admitting the Judge never ordered them agreed and information provided by Ms Walters to say Ms Rees would provide the witness statements : May 2019

Now in October 2019: 1 year after Ms Rees gathered witness statements, agreed 6 months ago to provide them CAFCASS now say having with held them in a SAR wrongly , and an internal review wrongly (which shows CAFCASS knows fine well the FCA gathered witness statements)

“Under GDPR, you will only be entitled to your own personal data, and not information relating to other people you will need to contact the court for sight of the witness statements as part of the proceedings” therefore

1. Please provide information in Family Law rules where now a person has to contact the court for sight of witness statements
2. GDPR then clearly conflicts with Family Law proceedings which say all parties should be provided copies but CAFCASS are now using GDPR to with hold release of Witness statements gathered by CAFCASS therefore please provide the information that enables GDPR regulations to over ride Family law rules procedures ?
3. Provide the information that enables CAFCASS under GDPR to provide release of data under SAR of character statements which includes information relating to other people but not witness statements as CAFCASS appear to be using GDPR in arbitrary decision making processes ?
4. HMCTS and the family court have made it abundantly clear they do not provide witness statements and they did not order them therefore why are you providing information saying the court has to be contacted for sight of witness statements when the court say CAFCASS must provide them ? What guidance information is CAFCASS relying on to provide these ‘inaccurate’ responses
5. The process of Ms Rees gathering witness statements is a sham creating legal and GDPR conflict of interest. How do CAFCASS procedurally intend to put matters right i.e impact assessment of the damage caused by this sham process and all the serious issues it raises ? I have asked this question to HMCTS and will ask the same to the ICO, MOJ and members of Parliament.

Instead of putting matters right CAFCASS appear to be only making matters worse to the point they have now created a ‘systemic malfunction’ where it needs to be legally ascertained if Family Law rules are struck out by new GDPR regulations.

The lengths CAFCASS have gone to here to cover up for a recalcitrant FCA: Ms Rees having the sheer audacity to assume she held powers available to a judge and acting with them beggars belief.

This leaves the public to draw their own conclusion: is this a pilot or trialling going in behind the scenes at CAFCASS. CAFCASS can not provide any reasonable lines of communication therefore instead of banging my head of a brick wall an open letter to the President of the family division seems the most expedient way forward.

Yours faithfully,

[Name Removed]