Appealing a contact order. Can I go to a judge?

[Rhinoplastics]

XH has taken me to court for unsupervised contact (currently supervised). A section 7 cafcass report is being done. It is all happening in a magistrate's court rather than in front of a judge.

If the magistrates grant all the access he wants (which I sorely hope they don't), can I appeal and take it before a family court judge or is there no point? Would they just uphold whatever the magistrates rule?

You cannot appeal and order simply because you don't like the decision.

It's all hypothetical anyway, it's more that I was surprised it wouldn't be heard before a judge. Since there is child abuse involved, and it will be heard by laypeople, is there no recourse if I fear for the dcs' safety?

Your XH will have to to choose magistrates or judge, magistrates is cheaper. Many family court magistrates have worked with judges on family cases (my dad was a family court magistrate for 25 years and often worked with a judge) so are very familiar with the law and what they should and should not be looking for. Family court magistrates under going training every single year.

Lonecat, that is enormously reassuring. Thank you. I guess I'm panicking that because it's not a judge they won't respond to the evidence. But I'm not being fair. It's not as though they're just people off the street. I am genuinely terrified about what will happen if he has them alone. I've tried so hard to keep contact going (safe contact) and bent over backwards to fit with his timetable.

I just want my dcs to be safe. He doesn't want to see them regularly, he wants long holidays. There's no reason it can't be shorter and more regular, other than that he can't be bothered. He already misses the contact he can have.

Some people don't get a choice of magistrates or judge. In our case, we were told who we see - magistrates and judges seem to be interchangeable for cases that aren't complex. Magistrates have a legal adviser to inform them on points of law they might not be familiar with. CAFCASS usually make a recommendation for what contact should be and magistrates and judges often go with that recommendation.

It was made very clear at the beginning of our case that supervised contact was a short term solution and that they would expect it to progress to unsupervised one way or another.

So it's more down to the cafcass report than the judge?

That's something. It's dd who is raising the concerns. She was interviewed last week. They all want to see XH, but safely. Like I said, he wants to see them in school holidays only (all of them) and to take them abroad (he house shares so no room at his home). There have been incidents of hospitalisation and harm. He's not malicious (at least not to anyone other than me), and he knows what to do, but will only parent if someone is watching :(

Baby, so things have actually changed since the first court date? Will this mean any change for us, or will it carry on under magistrates regardless as that's where it started?