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Be a close friend of the person they are helping?
Secondly are they allowed to tell a 3rd party, ie a child involved in the case or someone else, what has been discussed with a solicitor and the LIP either inside or outside the courtroom after the appearance in court?
The above might help to explain the duties and requirements of an MF, briefly a close friend would be ok as long as they didn't have a personal interest in the case. Ultimately permission of the court must be sought and the other party can make objections, but it is the judges decision.
The second question is a easy, no definitely not, they have a duty of confidentiality and they must not discuss the case or any components of it , if you suspect this then you should bring it to the judges attention .
Mckenzie friends need to be impartial to all parties involved in the case they are assisting on. Certainly close friends of parties involved would not be suitable as a Mckenzie friend. I would suspect that a judge would not permit such a person to act in this capacity. In my own case I have taken a mckenzie friend twice, and both times the judge has asked for the credentials of the person with me, and approved them on the basis of their experience and qualifications. A friend of a party to proceedings, in my opinion, would be too emotionally attached to the outcome of the case and the person they are helping, and thus would be of no value to the court in assisting the progress of the case.
What happens in the courtroom is confidential and private. For a mckenzie friend to disclose that information to others that are not party to proceedings I'm sure would be classed as a contempt of court.
Are your questions hypothetical? Or has something occurred that has prompted you to question a particular Mckenzie friend and their conduct?
...I would have agreed with Simons answer about a close friend not being suitable, but there are guys here that have had close family members as their MF....so it's a matter for the judge and as we all know, their opinions vary widely.
was the second MF better than the first one simon also what was the general time line of your case from when you first went to court ect
Interesting.....
So how serious could it be if it was reported by Cafcass that the child had spoken to the MF on the ex's say so to back up her side of an argument about what happened in the negotiations outside of Court?
In this case it looks as though the person acting as the mckenzie friend is not suitable for the role as they are acting very inappropriately outside the courtroom.
If the friend of your ex has contact with your child regularly outside of court, that gives rise to the opportunity for discussions with the child that could affect the progress of the case.
I would say if you suspect that your ex or her mckenzie friend are attempting to influence the child outside of court, report it to the judge/cafcass asap with any evidence you have. It's not appropriate for that to be happening.
Would.it be just the MF who got in trouble do you think, or the ex as well?
If the judge and cafcass are of the opinion that the mckenzie friend has acted inappropriately, then they may be stopped from participating in any the case in that capacity any more.
As for your ex, I don't think she will get in trouble as such. But the judge would certainly take a dim view that she has allowed the child to be manipulated in this way. After all we are talking about what is in the child's best interests, Using a child to serve her own interests is not on. The court will not like that one bit.
I can't say too much just incase, but I can't believe my solicitor never asked me if I knew her MF and this could've been stopped 18 months ago.
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