The Court hearing on the McCanns attempt to have access to the LP Files.

extract from the mccannfiles. I was trying to find the 4 theories about what happened to Madeleine in the Final Report, but couldn"t. However, this is
interesting:-



Address by Tim Scott Q.C. to the High Court
of Justice on 07 July 2008, In open court: International Family Law
Group

Representation

Madeleine McCann is a ward of Court. She had her 5th
birthday on 12 May 2008.

Gerry and Kate are not here as they are on holiday with
their twins, Sean and Amelie. Who could deserve a holiday more after a period
more traumatic than any family should have to cope with.

(Mrs Justice Hogg intervened: 'I did not
expect to see them.')

As the world knows, Madeleine was abducted from an apartment
at a resort in Praia Da Luz in Portugal on 03 May 2007. No one has ever been
arrested or charged in connection with her abduction. Her whereabouts are
completely unknown. There is no proof that she is alive, but there is not a
scrap of evidence that she is not.

After the abduction Gerry and Kate McCann set in motion
their own search with professional assistance. A Fund was set up to finance the
search and many people, often those who could barely afford it, have given
generously to that fund.

Simultaneously a massive international police search was
launched. Since the McCann family lives in Leicestershire, the Leicestershire
Constabulary has been the lead force among UK law enforcement agencies. Gerry
and Kate would like, through me, to acknowledge the enormous effort which has
been devoted both by the Leicestershire Constabulary and by other law
enforcement agencies to the search for Madeleine. They would also like to thank
many individual officers for the kindness and concern which they have shown to
the family throughout this terrible time.

Proceedings were started in this Court by a summons dated 17
May 2007. The sole purpose of the proceedings has been to call upon the
extensive powers of the High Court to require assistance to be given in the
search for a missing child. It is of course quite routine in the Family Division
for such Orders to be made. For example in an appropriate case (though not this
one) an Order can be made against a mobile phone company to produce the call
record of a phone. It was never the parents' wish that the proceedings should
become adversarial.

On 22 May 2007 an Order was made by you [4] in very wide
terms requiring any person on whom the Order was served to disclose to the
parents' solicitors any information which might assist in identifying
Madeleine's whereabouts. The Order contained a clause entitling any person
served with it to apply to discharge or vary it.

Among the bodies on whom the Order was served was the
Leicestershire Constabulary, who immediately expressed doubts as to whether the
Order was intended to or could properly extend to them. In due course the
parents’ solicitors issued a further application seeking clarification of this.
On 02 April 2008 you gave directions which were intended to lead to a hearing at
which this question would be resolved. This is that hearing.

As the preparations for this hearing advanced, it became
clear that the Leicestershire Constabulary and other law enforcement agencies,
while personally sympathetic to the position of the McCann's objected on
principle to the disclosure of at least the great bulk of the information in
their possession. They raised a number of legal arguments relating among other
matters to the public interest in maintaining the confidentiality of police
investigations. Both the Serious Organised Crimes Agency and the
Attorney-General intervened in the proceedings in order to advance their own
arguments on issues of public policy.

It became clear that if today's hearing proceeded on a fully
contested basis a number of areas of law of great interest to lawyers would have
had to be considered. However Gerry and Kate McCann are not lawyers and so far
as they were concerned the legal proceedings were moving further and further
from the only matter which concerns them: the search for Madeleine. The
proceedings were in danger of becoming a distraction from rather than an aid to
that single goal.

Also there have been two recent developments which have
greatly affected Gerry and Kate's views on these proceedings. The first is that
the Leicestershire Constabulary has now agreed to release an important, though
limited, part of the information which they have been seeking; I shall come back to that. The second is that, as has been widely
publicised, it is expected that Gerry and Kate's status in Portugal as arguidos
or suspects will be lifted soon. When that happens it is hoped and expected that
a substantial further amount of information will be released.

Since Gerry and Kate have always wanted to work with all law
enforcement agencies on a cooperative basis, they decided to withdraw the
application against the Leicestershire Constabulary. We therefore come to Court
today to ask you to approve an Order which all parties consent to.

The first part of the Order recites that the Chief Constable
of Leicestershire has agreed to provide by today a document in accordance with
Paragraph 50 of the Skeleton Argument which has been presented to the Court on
his behalf. That Paragraph is at 34. It says that the Chief Constable is
currently preparing a document which will provide the parents with the contact
details of persons that have been forwarded to the investigation by the parents
or those acting for them. This document will also contain a brief resume of the
information that it is believed the person informed the parents or those acting
for them that they wished to pass on to the investigation.

I said earlier that this is an important but limited amount
of the information which Gerry and Kate had hoped to obtain. I would like to
explain why it is important. Although the Leicestershire Constabulary were quick
to set up a major incident room and to provide a telephone number which anyone
with information could call, there was a period of time before this became
widely known.

During that time Gerry
and Kate's solicitor, Ms Ann Thomas of The International Family Law Group, who
sits in front of me, had already been retained. Her firm’s number was publicised
and a large number of people called in.

All of these callers were
given the number which the Leicestershire Constabulary had set up for the
purpose. The solicitors thought it right that the police should be receiving it.
In fact with few exceptions the solicitors did not even retain any notes on what
the callers were saying or even their contact details.

So what the Chief
Constable is now voluntarily providing is the contact details and a summary of
the information provided by a substantial number of people who were among the
first to try to help the investigation. It is
because these were on the whole people who came forward to volunteer information
in the period immediately after the abduction that it is likely that the
information which they provided will be most helpful.

So on that basis Gerry and Kate McCann are content to
withdraw their application for any wider disclosure. Paragraph 4 of the Order
provides that the documents in the case shall remain confidential to the Court.
This of course is completely normal in wardship. An exception is made to enable
the Chief Constable at his discretion to reveal the contents of his evidence and
the legal arguments advanced on his behalf.

The parents understand that the points of principle
which have arisen are of wider interest to law enforcement agencies, and they
would not want to restrict proper discussion of those matters which might have a
beneficial purpose in future investigations. They are confident that the Chief
Constable will exercise his discretion in a responsible way.

The search for Madeleine continues. The fund which was
established in May 2007 known as "Madeleine's Fund – Leaving No Stone Unturned"
remains closely involved in the search. It always has been and remains Gerry and
Kate's purpose to leave no stone unturned. This was why they asked for the
assistance of this Court in the first place, and this is why, in the light of
developing circumstances, they now withdraw their application. We hope that you
will accept, and will feel able to say that they have behaved completely
properly and responsibly at every stage.

Tim Scott Q.C.
Phillippa Kaufmann
The
International Family Law Group
For Gerry and Kate McCann


Kate and Gerry had already spent £374,000 from the Fund on trips to Madrid, Morocco, etc meeting with various dignitaries , now a holiday . yet never
once spend money on a Professional Agency experienced in searching for missing children.

I'm having great trouble reading beyond "As the world knows, Madeleine was abducted from an apartment....." NO THE WORLD DOESN'T KNOW OR ACCEPT THIS! The McCanns were represented by the International Family Law Group, the firm which rushed out to assist them in PDL, despite their speciality being family disputes where a parent has taken children abroad without the permission of the other one.

The firm was also instrumental in the setting up of the fund to raise money for the search for a child who was already the subject of extensive searches and was likely to have been found any time.

How they ever got involved I don't know.

Not Born Yesterday wrote:I'm having great trouble reading beyond "As the world knows, Madeleine was abducted from an apartment....." NO THE WORLD DOESN'T KNOW OR ACCEPT THIS! The McCanns were represented by the International Family Law Group, the firm which rushed out to assist them in PDL, despite their speciality being family disputes where a parent has taken children abroad without the permission of the other one.

The firm was also instrumental in the setting up of the fund to raise money for the search for a child who was already the subject of extensive searches and was likely to have been found any time.

How they ever got involved I don't know.

Morning NBY......I read a long time ago that the QC who recommended Madeleine be made a WOC did so in the event the McCanns were imprisoned for
child neglect. If this happened the High Court would arrange to carry on with the search. why it is still in place is a mystery, no disrespects but after almost
5 years the chances of Madeleine being found are pretty remote.