Edinburgh sheriff court

The request was partially successful.

Dear City of Edinburgh Council,

As the sheriff court is not a place of law and justice as I have discovered but a place of corporate business where the rich and corrupt become richer and the poor and honest get ripped off....
Can you please provide me with the number of cases where a court order has been granted to remove child/children from their parents/ guardians on the allegations/ presumptions/assumptions of social workers where no evidence has been shown to do so ? I would like to know how many cases /orders granted per year to remove children for the following years
2013- 2014?
2014-2015?
2015-2016?
2016-2017?
2017- present?
Can you also tell me how many of these
" orders" were granted by sheriff holligan.
I believe there was a judgement made on this sheriff in 2014 for removing children without a shred of evidence and shortly after the judiciary published its findings , Sheriff Holligan was then promoted from "floating" sheriff to "resident " sheriff in the Edinburgh sheriff court .
This foi is of public and personal interest to myself as I have had him twice and seems his "questionable" sheriff techniques have not changed since 2014

Yours faithfully,

debora Milazzo

City of Edinburgh Council

Ms Debora Milazzo

Our ref: 17262

Dear Ms Milazzo

Acknowledgement of Request

Subject: Edinburgh sheriff court

Thank you for your request for information received on 21/12/2017. In your request you asked for the following;

"Can you please provide me with the number of cases where a court order has been granted to remove child/children from their parents/ guardians on the allegations/ presumptions/assumptions of social workers where no evidence has been shown to do so ? I would like to know how many cases /orders granted per year to remove children for the following years
2013- 2014?
2014-2015?
2015-2016?
2016-2017?
2017- present?
Can you also tell me how many of these
" orders" were granted by sheriff holligan.
I believe there was a judgement made on this sheriff in 2014 for removing children without a shred of evidence and shortly after the judiciary published its findings , Sheriff Holligan was then promoted from "floating" sheriff to "resident " sheriff in the Edinburgh sheriff court .
This foi is of public and personal interest to myself as I have had him twice and seems his "questionable" sheriff techniques have not changed since 2014"

I can confirm that your request will be processed under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, Environmental Information Regulations (Scotland) 2004, or the INSPIRE (Scotland) Regulations 2009.

You will receive the information requested within 20 working days unless the Council does not hold the information, or there is a reason for it to be withheld. We will write to you in any event. This means we have until 24/01/2018 to respond to your request.

In some circumstances a fee may be payable and if that is the case we will let you know.

If you have any requirements regarding the format any information should be supplied in, e.g. the language to be used, audio, large print and so on, then please let me know.

If you have any queries or concerns, do not hesitate to get in touch. Please quote the reference number above in any future communications.

To promote transparency and accountability, please note it is the Council’s policy to publish all request details and responses made under the freedom of information legislation. This information will be made available through the Council’s website and will not include your personal details. The disclosure log is available at the following link: http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/homepage/175....

Further information about your rights and accessing information is available on our website at: www.edinburgh.gov.uk

Yours sincerely,

Information Governance Unit
Level 2:1, Waverley Court, Edinburgh EH8 8BG Tel 0131 200 2340
[Edinburgh City Council request email] www.edinburgh.gov.uk

Information Rights Officer 4, City of Edinburgh Council

Ms Debora Milazzo

 

[1][FOI #453499 email]

 

Our ref: 17262

 

 

Dear Ms Milazzo

 

Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 - Partial Release of
Information

 

Subject: Edinburgh Sheriff Court

 

Thank you for your request for information of 21/12/2017, which has been
processed under the terms of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act
2002. Unfortunately, the Council is only able to meet part of your
request; this information is released to you now. I shall address each of
your questions in turn.

 

You asked the following:

 

Q1. Can you please provide me with the number of cases where a court order
has been granted to remove child/children from their parents/ guardians on
the allegations/ presumptions/ assumptions of social workers where no
evidence has been shown to do so?

 

A1. There were no such cases. There are several types of court order under
which children can be removed from parents/ holders of Parental
Responsibilities and Rights (PRRs); no court order is granted ‘on the
allegations/ presumptions/ assumptions of social workers where no evidence
has been shown to do so’.

 

With regard to Child Protection Orders (CPOs), the applications and orders
are governed by statute which applies to the whole of Scotland.
Applications are made to the appropriate Sheriff Court, usually, but not
always, by the local authority. Most, but not all, applications in respect
of children who are Edinburgh Council’s responsibility are made in
Edinburgh Sheriff Court. Edinburgh Sheriff Court also deals with
applications for other local authorities’ children, including most of
Midlothian and East Lothian. Most applications are presented by a Council
solicitor.

 

In his third edition of ‘Children’s Hearings in Scotland’ at chapter 15-07
Professor Norrie cites Sheriff Kearney in the second edition of
‘Children’s Hearings and the Sheriff Court’, chapter 6-06:

 

“The hearing before the Sheriff is not a ‘proof’. The strict rules of
evidence do not apply. The Sheriff is entitled to have regard to hearsay
evidence and will consider the whole information which has been presented
and draw such inferences as common sense may suggest. The Sheriff has to
be ‘satisfied’.”

 

The information is rarely exclusively from social workers and sometimes
not from them at all. Other agencies such as health, education and police
and also family members supply information in support of CPO applications.

 

Q2. I would like to know how many cases /orders granted per year to remove
children for the period 2013 to present.

 

A2. The number of cases /orders granted per year to remove children for
2013 to present is provided in the table below:

 

251 Child Protection Orders (CPOs):

 

01/04/2013
to
31/03/2014 53
01/04/2014
to
31/03/2015 46
01/04/2015
to
31/03/2016 36
01/04/2016
to
31/03/2017 64
01/04/2017
to
31/12/2017 52

 

Q3. Can you also tell me how many of these 'orders' were granted by
Sheriff Holligan.

 

A3. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide you with the information
requested because it is not held by the Council.

 

Although there may be a record held of the particular Sheriff involved in
some of the cases, this is not recorded in every case as there is no
requirement or need for us to retain this information. The applicant does
not select a particular Sheriff; in Edinburgh the application is allocated
by the Sheriff Clerk to whichever Sheriff is on the rota for that day.
CPOs are very short-term legal frameworks which are quickly overtaken by
other decisions (by Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration - SCRA or
Children’s Hearings).

 

It may be that details of the number of ‘orders’ granted by a particular
Sheriff could be obtained from either the Sheriff Court or from the SCRA
directly. Their contact details are available on each of their websites.

 

Please note that this letter constitutes a notice under section 17 of the
Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

 

To promote transparency and accountability, please note it is the
Council’s policy to publish all request details and responses made under
the freedom of information legislation. This information will be made
available through the Council’s website and will not include your personal
details. The disclosure log is available at the following link:
[2]http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/homepage/175...

 

Your right to seek a review

 

I appreciate that our decision may disappoint you and I am sorry that we
have not been able to release all the information you requested on this
occasion. If you are unhappy with the way we have dealt with your request,
you can ask us to review our actions and decisions by writing to:

 

Head of Strategy & Insight

The City of Edinburgh Council

Waverley Court Business Centre 2:1

4, East Market Street

Edinburgh

EH8 8BG or,

Email: [3][email address]

 

Please note that your request must be in a recordable format (email,
letter, audio tape etc.), and that you have 40 working days upon receipt
of this letter to ask for a review. You will receive a full response to
your review request within 20 working days of its receipt. Please quote
the reference number above in any future communications.

 

If you are not content with the outcome of the review, you can ask the
Scottish Information Commissioner to review our decision. You must submit
your complaint to the Commissioner within 6 months of receiving our review
response. The Commissioner can be contacted at:

 

The Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner

Kinburn Castle

Doubledykes Road

St Andrews

Fife

KY16 9DS

Telephone: 01334 464610

Fax: 01334 464611

Website: [4]www.itspublicknowledge.info/Appeal

Email: [5][email address]

 

Yours sincerely

 

 

Iain Burden

Information Rights Officer

 

 

Information Governance Unit

Level 2:1, Waverley Court, Edinburgh EH8 8BG Tel 0131 200 2340

[6][Edinburgh City Council request email] [7]www.edinburgh.gov.uk

 

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